WEBVTT - Why Does the U.S. Hold Elections on Tuesdays?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff Lauren bog obam Here in the United

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<v Speaker 1>States ranked twenty six in the world in voter participation,

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<v Speaker 1>with only fifty percent of eligible voters casting ballots and

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<v Speaker 1>the presidential election. That's better than the twelve elections participation

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<v Speaker 1>rate of fifty three point six percent, but still embarrassingly

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<v Speaker 1>low compared with say, Sweden's participation rate, even though is

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<v Speaker 1>shaping up to be a year of higher the normal

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<v Speaker 1>voter turnout in the United States, experts are predicting about

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<v Speaker 1>sixtent turnout. Certainly nothing like so what's up with that?

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<v Speaker 1>What motivates people to either vote or abstain from doing so.

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<v Speaker 1>Some simply don't like the candidates running in a given year,

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<v Speaker 1>prefer to spend their time otherwise or else somehow forget

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<v Speaker 1>that there's an election. But according to a Pew Research

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<v Speaker 1>Center survey of registered voters who did not cast ballots

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<v Speaker 1>in the biggest single reason was scheduled conflicts with worker school,

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<v Speaker 1>which kept thirty five percent of people who didn't vote

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<v Speaker 1>from exercising their rights. Of course, there are increasing options

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<v Speaker 1>in many places, such as mail in voting and early

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<v Speaker 1>voting but election day schedule conflicts occur in large part

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<v Speaker 1>because of a federal law from eighteen forty five, which

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<v Speaker 1>designated a week day, specifically the first Tuesday after the

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<v Speaker 1>first Monday of November, as election day. But an organization

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<v Speaker 1>called why Tuesday has advocated a solution that's already being

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<v Speaker 1>used successfully in Belgium, France, Germany, India and other countries.

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<v Speaker 1>The group wants to change voting law and hold elections

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<v Speaker 1>at a time that's better suited for modern day Americans. Ideally,

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<v Speaker 1>they'd like to see election day held on a weekend,

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<v Speaker 1>though making it a federal holiday during the week would

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<v Speaker 1>be a fallback option. Why Tuesday co founder Norman j Ornstein,

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<v Speaker 1>a political scientist an author whose resident scholar at the

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<v Speaker 1>American Enterprise Institute, says that the current election day is

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<v Speaker 1>an outmoded holdover from an age in which the country

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<v Speaker 1>was very different from today. He explained the law was

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<v Speaker 1>written to take into account the needs of a primarily

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<v Speaker 1>agrarian society. There wasn't any uber or trains or cars.

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<v Speaker 1>Farmers had to get their products to market in wagons,

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<v Speaker 1>which usually required a day of travel, and they needed

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<v Speaker 1>to be home for the sabbath, so they needed to

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<v Speaker 1>have a day that fell between those, and people settled

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<v Speaker 1>their accounts in those days on the first day of

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<v Speaker 1>the month, so they couldn't vote then. Given those constraints,

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<v Speaker 1>the first Tuesday that falls after the first Monday in

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<v Speaker 1>November seemed like the best choice, but as Ornstein notes,

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<v Speaker 1>the timing is not so convenient in a modern, industrialized,

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<v Speaker 1>technologically advanced society where many people work during the day

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<v Speaker 1>from Monday through Friday, say nine am to five pm

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<v Speaker 1>or thereabouts. And we of a system in which we

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<v Speaker 1>have to vote near where we live, which isn't necessarily

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<v Speaker 1>near where we work, Ornstein said. And that means that

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<v Speaker 1>if you're going to vote on election day, you have

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<v Speaker 1>to go to the polls first thing in the morning

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<v Speaker 1>before you go to work, or else rush over there

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<v Speaker 1>late at night and hope that you can get there

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<v Speaker 1>in time. Either way, if you run into a two

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<v Speaker 1>hour line, you might not be able to vote. Though

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<v Speaker 1>side note, if you do go late on election day,

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<v Speaker 1>stay in line, the polls cannot close without allowing you

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<v Speaker 1>to exercise your right. If it were up to Ornstein,

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<v Speaker 1>he would switch election day to a weekend, more specifically,

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<v Speaker 1>a twenty four hour period from noon on Saturday to

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<v Speaker 1>noon on Sunday. He said that way we wouldn't run

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<v Speaker 1>into a problem for people who keep the Sabbath. Additionally,

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<v Speaker 1>Ornstein would hold three days of early voting on Wednesday

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<v Speaker 1>through Friday of the week before the Saturday Sunday election.

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<v Speaker 1>That would accommodate people who work on weekends, as well

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<v Speaker 1>as more of those who have out of town travel scheduled.

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<v Speaker 1>Forty eight states have adopted a version of this concept,

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<v Speaker 1>with money having two or three weeks of early voting.

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<v Speaker 1>But that's not all. To make voting even easier, Ornstein

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<v Speaker 1>would use communications advances to set up remote voting stations

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<v Speaker 1>where any citizen could vote during the designated times, no

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<v Speaker 1>matter where they live in a given city or state.

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<v Speaker 1>As an alternative to weekend voting, Ornstein would favor the

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<v Speaker 1>solution of making election Day a federal holiday, but he

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<v Speaker 1>thinks that that wouldn't work quite so well. He said,

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<v Speaker 1>setting up a new holiday is always an expensive proposition

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<v Speaker 1>for the economy, and if you piggyback it on Veterans Day,

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<v Speaker 1>veterans are going to feel understandably short changed. So what's

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<v Speaker 1>preventing us from change and some argue that it's a

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<v Speaker 1>subtle way of suppressing votes from people more likely to

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<v Speaker 1>have difficulty voting, people who are younger or older, or

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<v Speaker 1>less financially advantaged. But Ornstein suggests that we've stayed with

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<v Speaker 1>Tuesday more out of inertia than resistance. He said, we

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<v Speaker 1>have a political system that doesn't do anything easily in

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<v Speaker 1>these day as it has become so dysfunctional that it

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't even do critically important things that well. For the

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<v Speaker 1>past several sessions of Congress, Steve Israel, a Democratic representative

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<v Speaker 1>from New York, has introduced legislation to move election day

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<v Speaker 1>to a weekend. His proposals have never made it out

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<v Speaker 1>of committee. Today's episode was written by Patrick J. Kaiger

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<v Speaker 1>and produced by Tyler Clang. For born this months of

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<v Speaker 1>other curious topics, visit how stuff works dot com. Brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff is production of iHeart Radio. For more podcasts to

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