Mexico is ahead of us on this issue. Their national elections are an official holiday, usually on Saturday

The election calendar was designed back when the US was largely an agrarian nation. November was usually between crops, and Tuesday was chosen so that one could attend church, travel on Monday, and arrive at the poll on Tuesday.

This logic is now sadly outdated, and election law must catch up. Early voting is a huge step in this direction, a national holiday would be the next.

This issue has my vote!

Furthermore, election day should be moved to Wednesday to discourage people from making an extended weekend of the holiday.

as a vet i think for the years i was in service fight for the right of american. what one day out of 4 years.

Our state has mail ballots, and this might also be a good idea in conjunction with the holiday.

Our state has mail ballots, and this might also be a good idea in conjunction with the holiday.

I agree, election day should be a holiday! Keeping in mind the historical nature that was stated above, American communities are no longer solely Agrarian and things need to change to encourage all eligible voters to do so.  But, this election proved that getting out and voting was more important at that moment than any other obligation.

Or move elections to the weekend. 

It is time to have elections on the weekend.  This will allow many more people to vote on election day and allow boards of elections to hire more competent poll workers and most employed persons cannot take a work day off to man the polls.  Most other governments have elections on the weekends so they do not confilct with working days.  In addition, it will reduce the lines at the polls as most individuals vote before work or in the evening.  I am a election worker and my observation is that most people vote in the morning before work.  We had a total of 450 voters  for the day, 300 of them had voted before 9:00 am.  In the morning we had lines but after 10:00, nobody had to wait for a voting machine.

Some people work on the weekends, so I believe that making election day a national holiday is the best avenue to take.

no more national holidays, please...  move it to a saturday if we have to change it. I work on tuesdays and I always find time to vote... most employers are pretty understanding in my experience.

I wish we could vote things down.

This needs to be a holiday where most businesses are closed, including retail stores.  Lower income people deserve equality when it comes to voting. 

national mail in ballots should be the norm like it is here in Oregon

As one who operates a hotel, I would not support another national holiday.  Hospitals, police stations, nursing homes--an endless list of businesses must operate all the time.  Indeed, many low wage workers must work on what most people consider holidays.  Rather than institute a national holiday, there should be an accommodation required by businesses to ensure that all of their workers can vote.  This could be allowing late arrival or early departure, or leaving them on the clock to go vote (if their polling place is near work).  This kind of flexibility would ensure that a wider variety of voters would actually have the chance to vote without getting penalized at work.

Isn't there already enough national holidays?   Having election day a holiday would make people lose a whole day's worth of wages rather than a couple hours so that reason doesn't make sense.  This would be great for people working on salary, but the average middle and lower class families would lose a day's worth of wages.  The polls are open long enough to give even the busiest person enough time to vote.  If people do not think they'll have enough time to vote then there are always early voting and mail in ballots.  I served in the army for over 7 years and always managed to find a way to cast my vote, whether it be in person, from another state, country, or continent.

You know what I find astounding? The schools have off on Election Day- but the rest of the country doesn't! A fourth grader gets the day off and I don't? I'm the one that has to vote!

Why does the fourth grader get the day off? Besides the fact that all government institutions are shut down on federal holidays? Cause they can't have lunch in the cafeteria because of the machines there? Let them stay in school and keep the kids out of the lobby and let me have the day off Election Day!

A federal holiday like that should mean everyone gets off from work.

In Australia or New Zealand forget which they have a 95% voter turn out.  How?  $25 dollar ticket for not voting.

Combined with a holiday so there's no excuse.

I am not convinced.  Will this increase turnout by eliminating a conflict with work, or will it decrease turnout by creating a conflict with recreation?  I think we are more likely to see improvement from a move toward more early voting by mail and internet.

The idea of a holiday also celebrates civic participation. Wouldn't it be nice to send the message that Capitalism can take a day off for Democracy? This has my vote. We can get rid of Columbus Day.

Our polls are open thirteen hours. However, many Californians spend hours in traffic because we have to live farther and farther away from our jobs to afford housing. I prefer the Saturday idea, or even Saturday AND Sunday. Except for weekend workers, this is an ideal solution.
I can't see a reason for giving folks a ticket for not voting. Some people are uninformed and would only vote what their friends or family or political party tell then to vote. I would rather see only those vote who take the time to become informed, or at least who care enough to vote without bribery or penalty involved.

I'd like to see a national holiday for election day - and eliminate all early voting and voting by mail.  It's too easy to commit fraud by having the votes trickling in rather than all being submitted on one day.  If a person is unable to vote because they are out of town - too bad.  The number of people that applies to is insignificant compared to the stakes involved for everybody else. 

Election Day as a national holiday is a great idea and it certainly helps. More (although not all) people will be able to take off from work, and that means better access to the polls AND a more evenly distributed voting day with less of a rush before and after work hours, thus helping to reduce long lines and problems at polling places.

Imagine spreading that out over several days or weeks, though... allowing people to vote at their convenience, whether that be a weekend or a day off or after work whenever they can. Better ballot access is good for democracy, so the more that can be expanded, the stronger our democracy will be. Giving people more choices seems inherently 'more democratic' as well...  

http://www.change.org/ideas/view/national_early_voting_great_way_to_safeguard_fair_elections

Election Day as a National Holiday will increase voter turnout. 
It will provide more incentives for young people to go out and vote. 
Its already the case in other countries such as Mexico and they have a large voter turnout.   A third world country can do things better than us is rather shameful. 

I just saw this posting and have not yet read through the other postings.

I am not sure it should be a national holiday, but why should something as important as voting be a one-day shot.

Early voting can be helpful, but why not have a three-day period, over which folks can vote.  If polls are open from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. three days in a row, such as Sunday through Tuesday or, alternatively, Thursday through Saturday, then most everyone will have a real chance to have their voice heard.

I favor making election day a holiday, or extending it for 2 or 3 days.  I am concerned that widespread early voting will be hard to keep secure, and if word of an early count is leaked, the system can be manipulated.  I recognize that compressing the voting period means that more votes must be counted in a short period of time and that this is likely to require electronic voting machines in high-population areas.  However, I believe that with a combination of a voter-verifiable paper trail and mandatory random audits, the risks of systematic fraud can be reduced to an acceptable level.

I think it makes good common sense that we get a day set aside to vote. Voting is a fundamental right guaranteed by our constitution. As it is right now, it’s a fundamental right that does not come with all the flexibilities that afforded every citizen the opportunity to vote on Election Day. By making it a national holiday, the people’s voice and ardently desire would be decided by the majority.    

Great idea. That gives everyone a day to take off from work (PAID) and take all their household votes to the voting booth. Of course this could REALLY happen, and have a much broader and long lasting impact with an idea such as [url="http://www.strongfamiliesinc.org/content/blogcategory/18/200/"]SFI[/url] might have, where particularly you, Pauline, as a single mother are the one with most to gane from serious change.

 Is this a national problem? 

Don't we already have options in many states?
*Vote early, some polling places are open at 7am or ealier so many can get there early.
*Vote after work
*Absentee ballot if we know we're not able to be there
contact your state legislature if you have problems with your state's voting laws

If we close all schools, won't that leave people with more "family responsibilities" taking care of their children?

Where I live, the schools are already closed because that's where the voting booths are located.  Only the children get a holiday.  The teachers have an inservice day and the parents still go to work so I don't see any additional "family responsibilities" being an issue. 

I voted for it, but it over-emphasizes presidential-year elections.  At a minimum, we should have national holiday for federal elections, which are every two years.  

Good idea-   Also -  Let's count the votes with accuracy-  Please support our idea for open source / paper ballot elections under " Move the country toward transparent elections "

In Germany they always vote on a Sunday.  In Canada the law requires employers to give their employees 4 hours off to vote, if the say that they can't vote before or after work. Not sure if it's paid though.

In Australia, we simply hold elections on saturdays, with polling stations open from early in the morning until 6pm. You can also put in an early vote at the electoral office if you need to. We use the same system nation-wide, and local school halls are used as venues.

Oh, and voting is compulsory...it's a civic duty, not just a right. It also stops special interest groups gaining too much influence.

I would rather elections be held over a 2-7 day period with at least one of those days being a holiday.

And why not make election day one 24 hour period across the country, so polls would open and close simultaneously?  This would end the nonsense of declaring a winner while polls are still open and could even generate more interest and excitement to participate as a nation vs. "east coast decides, we watch"

I like the four hours off ordeal.  Seriously, I would use that 'voting holiday' as an actual holiday.  Work it for the extra pay or sit at home as my day off.  For you disgusted my honesty: I don't like electoral votes.  Let us count vote for vote.  I believe it is in OUR constituition Article 2 section 1, then ratified to Amendment 12.  Countless votes have been approved and were not sealed.  Then you have people saying that it would take too long: what's the rush for honesty?  Come on this person is our trusted leader and they don't want to take a couple extra days??  I watched all three Presidential debates:  nothing like getting paid to memorize lines.  Please let me know that I'm not the only one that noticed that, right?  As any and all of can go on....
May the times be with us

Each and everyone must read GIVE ME LIBERTY by NAOMI WOLF.  And each and everyone of us must ENGAGE in and SAFEGUARD the democratic process! We are becoming a country by and for the CORPORATIONS, not the PEOPLE!!!!!

THE BLUE VOTE BUTTON has to turn RED for your vote to register!! Please make sure you check this after voting!! Thanks!

I commend your effort here, yet I feel your wording is flawed. The mass logistics to create complete fairness matters. If you miss a valid point-of-view your efforts may self defeat more than be defeated by lack of popular support. Once you have a clear plan, ask yourself who would voice decent of it and why. Do not fight with this resistance. address and resolve it. i.e. Who pays for what and why? Proof needed that a vote was cast; mail-in or at a polling station; privacy/security issue?  Don't give up on this issue! Thank you!

The whole voting system needs reshaping. Just look abroad!
First, universal direct suffrage in two rounds (first with all the candidates, second with the finalists) for electing the president is the universal thing to do. The actual system is stupid, pretty unfair and takes too much money and time.
Voting on Sundays is also a favourite among the Occidental world, it's an easy way of getting more votes.
The first democracy of the world needs to be at the top on the subject, as the whole world watches its elections as if they were part of it.

this is bs. drug policy dominated the votes. obama ignored the will of the voters blowing them off. Change my ass this site is bunk.

lol

Or, even better, have move election day to a weekend.

There are enough holidays. Have early voting and make election day on a weekend, like they do in Europe.