HornHGoFixIt

[ELECTION WEEKEND]
===** Election Day is seen as a critical day in the future of our country, as it is really democracy at work. It is the time for individuals to voice their opinions and make their desires for the future of the nation heard. However, for such a critically important day in our political system, the weight given to the event, outside of the media, is not very emphasized. Many different viewpoints suggest various problems as to why voters don't participate and why the process of voting isn't celebrated to a greater extent. Many of these issues share similarities with reasons why it is difficult for Americans to choose day to day how to live healthier and more sustainable lives. The major factor in these discussions usually is time, but also education. There is no official Election Day holiday, meaning that businesses and government agencies continue to operate like the day is any other. The problem is that we have an economic system that continues operating at full pace even though the government requires almost the undivided attention of the citizenry. What I propose as a solution is a civic holiday that takes on the importance of other holidays, similar to the 4th of July, that celebrates the country but also acts as an educational device and local community celebration. While this idea has been proposed in the past, I believe what has lacked in previous arguments is a rethinking of the placement of the day in the calender year and the span which the holiday covers. There are several issues that will be brought up throughout the discussion that attempt to solve various problems plaguing the current electoral system and process and suggest how such a series of events can increase civic participation and community interaction. **===

==== The first question we could raise while tackling this issue is the location of election day on the calender year and the current appropriateness of its positioning. Congress established the current position of election day in 1845. “ Lawmakers chose November because it was a time when the harvest was over. Spring was planting season, and summer was a time of working in the fields, so November seemed best because there was little farm work and the weather was often still mild enough for people to travel over dirt roads to voting places.” ( "Why Tuesday" ) In the middle of the 19th century the majority of the country was still agrarian, as the Industrial Revolution was slowly leaking into America from Great Britain, and the date was appropriately placed to give American farmers ample time to travel far distances to cast votes. “Lawmakers in 1845 also determined that Election Day should be a Tuesday because farmers often needed a full day on horseback after Sunday to reach polling places.” ( "Why Tuesday" ) Obviously our country is no longer trapped under the transportation or agrarian restraints of 150 years ago. Perhaps a more appropriate timing for this election event is in the summer time as children are not in school and for most extreme regional climates, the weather is more suitable to outdoor gathering. One would have to also bring into account various environmental events that could prevent voting from occurring, specifically speaking of the increasing prevalence of wild fires and hurricanes during the summer months. ====

**[CORPORATIONS AND ELECTIONS] **
=== In a day and age where transportation is not as demanding a time restraint, it would appear easier for individuals to participate, however the hours of voting times and normal business hours that exist in the corporate economic system take away the freedom that early American farmers had in attending the voting proceedings. “A survey just released from the Society of Human Resource Management only 31 percent of employers offer paid time off to their employees so they can vote and only 24 percent offer unpaid time off.” ( Tahmincioglu) The other major aspect of this issue is that condensed periods of voting are created which occur before work, on lunch breaks, and after the workday has been completed, causing dense times where long lines create stressed individuals. In 2008 “Voters waited up to two hours in the metropolitan regions anchored by Atlanta, Chicago, San Antonio, and Seattle, and more than two and a half hours in Detroit. The wait was up to three hours in Broward County, Florida; and four in Hillsborough County, Florida; New York City; Baltimore; and Prince George's County, Maryland. Voters reportedly waited for five hours in Hamilton County, Indiana; and up to seven hours in St. Louis County, Missouri; and portions of Virginia.” ( Levitt ) By releasing citizens from the stresses of the work day, instant flexibility is created that helps to spread voting over a longer period of the day, causing less congestion and also time to engage with the community at the voting location. The question then becomes how can companies afford to provide one or two days off for their employees to participate. Perhaps this could be helped by creating tax incentives for companies that have higher voter participation rates, or that create clever scheduling solutions to afford their employees the opportunity to vote, including full days off with pay. ===

**[VOTER REGISTRATION] **
=== A problem that also needs to be addressed is how none of these election events will matter without proper voter registration, which is a procedure which varies by state. Registration for voting ends for many states often more than 25 days prior to election day, meaning that not only do citizens have to find free time for the voting day, but must also find a time to register at some other day months prior to the event. Seven states have moved to a procedure called Election Day Registration, which allows those who haven't registered prior to election day to have a chance to participate by registering the same day as voting. “States with EDR have turnout rates 10-12 percentage points higher than states that don't offer EDR. Maine's voter turnout topped 51 percent in 2006—significantly higher than the 38 percent average for non-EDR states.” ( Demos**)** EDR also gives young voters, who are often thoroughly engaged in school, and work the chance to vote, since we are a generation constantly forced upon with distraction. The common opposition to EDR is that it allows less informed and politicially uninvolved individuals to vote and weight the decisions in an “improper direction.” It is suggested that it is detrimental to the overall quality of the election results. By forming an election day holiday, that promotes a series of civic events along with registration and voting procedures, individuals can become more informed by being engaged in civic debate that extends across a variety of scales from year to year. The real challenge then becomes to inform in a manner that is not biased. I believe that public debates and a variety of scaled group discussions could promote fair opinion and this could perhaps be backed up by non-biased fact reporting government agencies, or not for profits. This also helps to challenge the months of network bias which is prevalent in the news media, by separating opinion from the hard facts. ===

**[IMPROVED VOTER AWARENESS] **
=== Creating this election event would also aide in the removal of absentee-ballots and early voting. Especially young students could return home to participate in these events, or even aide in the running of them in their local areas. Early voting is argued to subtract from the quality of the vote by not giving the public time to see through the last bit of the campaigning process, often a critical time as the pressure builds close to the election and coverage actually increases tremendously ( Bachman**)** “The second problem with early voting is that one of its supposed benefits is actually a subtraction from civic health. The benefit is that it makes voting easier—indeed, essentially effortless. But surely the quality of the electoral turnout declines when the quantity is increased by “convenience voting.” The coming of the public into public places for the peaceful allocation of public power should be an exhilarating episode in our civic liturgy.” ( Will **)** ===

**[THE PROPOSAL] **
=== While there are many debated challenges facing the electoral process, like registration procedures, over-sight of elections in states, and voting machine technologies, but none of these really matter if the majority of the citizens voicing their opinion isn't addressed first as no manner of vote tampering can affect a larger influx of votes. After this analysis I propose that a federal holiday is formed at the end of May to coincide with Memorial Day. While the school year has not ended for many students in the public school system, a day off is already planned for Memorial Day and extending this one day further should not detract from the end of the school year. The placement fits quite well as Memorial Day is a celebration of the fallen war heroes from our country's history, and tends to be a more locally oriented holiday with town and regional parades occurring in public areas. The holiday will consist of four days of events eventually leading up to the actual voting procedure. The Saturday and Sunday would consist of a variety of events targeted for different age groups, and of course all voluntary. Voters can continue to register during all these periods but the days are filled with televised coverage of more national elections while local elections allow more direct interaction or live debate amongst candidates. Educational events are also hosted by the local governments to engage children at various age levels and create civic pride early in their lives, but these events have to be carefully crafted to not invoke a school like setting. Sunday night involves a large celebration hosted in some sort of park like space where perhaps concerts and cultural events take place to highlight the diversity of America and remind citizens of the freedoms this country provides. Monday involves typical Memorial day ceremonies and events, but primarily remains a break for people to ponder over the coming decision after hearing issues and debate over the course of the weekend. It is meant to be a relatively peaceful and constructive day reflecting on the individual and the weekends experience so that a responsible choice can be made. Tuesday then becomes a day where voting occurs and events occur around the voting area, to entice people into the public realm or return home from other celebrations elsewhere, refreshed to cast their votes. The length of the event is essential to public participation, because it is necessary to create a break for those overworked individuals so they will participate in voting, not simply use that as a day to recover and relax. ===

=== One last note is that this suggestion requires a massive re-understanding of the scale of the public spaces that are within towns and also a reorganization of built space to be able to accommodate the number of individuals participating in the voting proceedings as well as the public events. Voting places can no longer just be thrown into schools, but deserve to be established buildings that reorganize space to provoke social and political interaction. ===


 * [SUPPORTING LINKS]**

Further Argument supporting Holiday - [] Debate on the Subject - []


 * [BIBLIOGRAPHY]**

===Bachman, Katy. "15 DAYS BEFORE ELECTION DAY: It's politics, so anything can happen." //Brandweek// 51, no. 37 (October 18, 2010): 38. //Academic Search Premier//, EBSCO//host// (accessed December 5, 2010). === ===Briner, Karen. "State by State Info." //Home - Declare Yourself//. Declare Yourself, 2009. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. . (accessed December 5, 2010) === ===<span style="font-family: Agency FB,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2in;">Demos. "Election day registration." //National Civic Review// 96, no. 2 (Summer2007 2007): 49-51. //Academic Search Premier//, EBSCO//host// (accessed December 4, 2010). === ===<span style="font-family: Agency FB,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2in;">Heuvel, Katrina Vanden. "Bring Democracy Home." //Nation//, November 20, 2006., 3-5, //Academic Search Premier//, EBSCO//host// (accessed December 4, 2010). === ===<span style="font-family: Agency FB,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2in;">Levitt, Justin. "Long Lines at the Courthouse: Pre-Election Litigation of Election Day Burdens." //Election Law Journal// 9, no. 1 (March 2010): 19-39. //Academic Search Premier//, EBSCO//host// (accessed December 4, 2010). === ===<span style="font-family: Agency FB,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2in;">Seligson, Dan. "How America Votes: Eight Lessons From Election Day." //Politics (Campaigns & Elections)// 29, no. 12 (December 2008): 15-16. //Academic Search Premier//, EBSCO//host// (accessed December 3, 2010). === ===<span style="font-family: Agency FB,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2in;">Tahmincioglu, Eve. "Your Career: Should Election Day Be a Holiday? - Business - Careers - Msnbc.com." //Breaking News, Weather, Business, Health, Entertainment, Sports, Politics, Travel, Science, Technology, Local, US & World News- Msnbc.com//. MSNBC, 14 Nov. 2008. <[](accessed December 4, 2010). === ===<span style="font-family: Agency FB,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2in;">"Why Tuesday?." //Current Events// 110, no. 8 (November 2010): 5. //Academic Search Premier//, EBSCO//host// (accessed December 3, 2010). === ===<span style="font-family: Agency FB,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2in;">Will, George F. "Farewell, Election Day." //Newsweek//, October 06, 2008., 64, //Academic Search Premier//, EBSCO//host// (accessed December 4, 2010). ===


 * [PICTURES]**

<span style="font-family: Agency FB,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2in;">Memorial Day Parade - [] <span style="font-family: Agency FB,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2in;">Room with People - [] <span style="font-family: Agency FB,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2in;">Voting Box - <span style="font-family: Agency FB,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2in;">Fireworks - []