this post was submitted on 08 Oct 2024
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Is it time to make Election Day a federal holiday? 🗳️ Some say it would boost voter turnout and align the U.S. with other democracies, while others argue it could create challenges for hourly workers and cost millions. Dive into the debate over whether a federal voting holiday is the best way to strengthen democracy or if there are better solutions. Check out the full breakdown!

https://ace-usa.org/blog/research/research-votingrights/should-election-day-become-a-federal-holiday-weighing-the-benefits-and-drawbacks/

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[–] WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

God forbid Americans get more holiday time, especially considering that the rest of the developed world tends to get a lot more than we do.

[–] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The purpose of a day off for election day is to get people to vote. Tying it to a requirement to actually vote (not even necessarily on the same day) gives an incentive to vote instead of just another day off.

They should be getting an extra month of vacation time in general, absolutely, but that has nothing to do with incentivizing voting.

I got extra time off work for having a Covid vaccination. Since I was getting vaccinated anyway, it was just more time off just like a voting day would be. But for some people, the extra time off was enough incentive to get them to go to Walgreens and get a shot. If they'd just given everybody extra time off for Covid vaccinations without us having to prove that we did it, then those who weren't planning to get the shot still wouldn't have. And the point was to get people vaccinated for public health.

[–] WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The problem with that is that it incentivizes people who are uninformed about politics to vote randomly for a day off. Our issue is not that everyone needs to vote, but that everyone who chooses to is able to and not hindered by a company.

If they want to incentivize people to get informed and get involved, then they should abolish the electoral college so people will feel like their votes count in states where they are a minority. Reinstating voting rights for felons would also get people motivated, because people who have been burned by the system may want to work to change it.

Even with all that, there will be people who do not care, do not learn, and will not want to vote, and they should be given that option. They have deemed themselves unqualified, and that should be believed.

[–] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It's perfectly legal to turn in a blank ballot. When there's an uncontested candidate running for office in my area that I do not support our I don't know the difference between the candidates I simply don't select a candidate for that position while voting for the candidates and issues I do understand.

[–] WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yes, but if someone intends not to vote at all, why waste their time and make lines longer by having them turn in a totally blank ballot?

[–] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

If inconveniencing a hundred thousand lazy assholes into spending 5 minutes turning in a blank ballot is the cost of getting thousands of other people to engage in the political process I think that's pretty cheap.

Especially if we do it annually and tie it to local elections. I'm a government employee and I've seen local elections with high stakes affecting a hundred thousand people get 50 votes total.