In the United States of America, voting day is not a federally protected holiday. Should it be? The Brookings Institution argues in favor of voting day being a national holiday. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) has voted heavily in favor of this. His list of provisions he supports states that he is committed to “making Election Day a national holiday. Without this simple step toward turning out as many Americans as possible to vote, any reform will be incomplete.” With all of the turbulence happening in the world, it would certainly be useful if this day could be federally protected so that American citizens can utilize their constitutional rights.
One must also look at statistics surrounding Voting Day. According to CBS News, “With just about six in 10 voters turning out to vote in the U.S., some civil rights advocates are arguing that it’s about time to give Americans the day off to vote.” Looking at the statistics, 138 million Americans voted in the 2016 presidential election. This was only 61.4% of registered voters in America. Even with this, it was the second-highest voter turnout that America had seen in 20 years.
Therefore, it certainly seems like a large consensus believe that voting day should be a federally recognized and protected holiday. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) leads this charge. In the end, “the first bill House Democrats introduced this January (2019) included a wide range of anti-corruption measures – and a proposal to make Election Day a national holiday.”
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