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I’m not sure this is exactly practical. I don’t believe we would get hardly any laws proposed or voted on.
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- OBJECTIVE
- Election Day should be a national holiday
- TERMS
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If we reach exactly 100,000 people, then we will skip work on Election Day, making it a de facto holiday
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- THE PITCH
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Every year, millions of Americans can’t vote because it would force them to miss work. We can keep waiting for the government to make Election Day a national holiday, or we can take matters into our own hands. Our goal is to get enough people to skip work on Election Day to spark a national movement of employers giving their employees the day off.
This campaign is for all Americans, but you should start your own campaign for people in your company. For example, if you work at Google, start a campaign to get at least half of your coworkers to take the day off — it’s more than likely that management will get the message and make it a holiday for everyone.
Want to see more people vote this November? This is the best way to make it happen, and more effective than another petition. Please help spread the word, and post a comment if your employer has Read More
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Recent Discussion
I think…. “We the PEOPLE” should get to vote on if laws are passed or not. Why should some asshole in a suit get to decide our fate? Does he live all our lives?
In this case he does.
We the People should get to vote every year on new laws and maybe even new presidents should grow tired of the current asshole.
Love and Peace
Lestat138
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Not a TERRIBLE idea, but employers ARE currently required by law to give employees time off to vote on election day, IIRC.
This would also have the opposite effect on blue-collar restaurant and service-industry workers, IMO. Instead of getting time off to vote, workers in restaurants, hotels, resorts etc. would be pulling double-shifts on those days to accommodate those with an extra day off.
Let’s just make it easier, faster, and more convenient to vote. More options – accessible absenteeism, more polling stations, more machines, voter receipts and transparent counting…
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Rebekah Hall replied on Oct 21, 2008“employers ARE currently required by law to give employees time off to vote on election day, IIRC.”
This is exactly the point I was going to make – by law, your employer HAS to allow you time off to go vote if you are unable to get to the polls before or after your working hours.
Also, it’s not that difficult to register as a permanent absentee voter – have your ballot mailed to you and vote from the comfort of your own home, weeks before election day.
I do agree that it should be easier, faster, and more convenient to vote. We live in an age of ultra-fast Internet, global connectivity, computers, phone lines, etc. etc. There is no reason we can’t count EVERY vote quickly and without the troubles we’ve seen in the last couple of elections.
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If you haven’t carved your pumpkin for halloween, visit the campaign to carve pumpkins to get out the votes. You can do slogans, picture, and more.
There’s a campaign with some pumpkin patterns at http://www.thepoint.com/campaigns/carve-your-pumpkins-to-get-out-the-vote-on-nov-4 if you want to check it out.
A friend carved a pumpkin for his campaigning, and the simplicity of the idea as well as the notion of lighting up your neighborhood with this message of getting out the vote just hit me as something many of us can do.
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This could be the best thing for our country. It is interesting that our government says what hard, great workers we are, wouldn’t allow us the time to vote.
I got to thinking about this idea and I remembered last year how hard it was for me to vote (I live in Southeast Florida). I had to stand in line to vote for almost an hour. I had worked all day then pick up my kids and cook dinner, but I was determined to vote. I look at the amount of workers who vote and it’s a hard day for most.
What about single moms? When do they get to vote. I know I didn’t vote in the 2000 election because, I had no one to take my 4 year old daughter after I worked all day.
I totally agree with making election day a National Holiday and will take this one off and the next, you get the point.
The more people who do this the bigger impact it will make. If we all treat election day like a Sunday, even, in the workforce, we would have a more positive election, in which the voice of the workforce would be heard!
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Andrew Mason replied on Oct 9, 2008thanks for the support, Yvonne, get some of your friends to join!
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Yvonne Atkinson replied on Oct 9, 2008
On it…Posted a bulletin on myspace. Plan on writing an article about it also.
With the stirs of this election being stolen again, even if coming from conspiracy theorists, there is one way to have it happen and that is the working class of America, who believe we need a change, can’t stand in line. They are already talking about a shortage of voter polls in democratic neighborhoods and it isn’t right.
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if this tips i’ll totally be a poll watcher….i’ve always wanted to do that but i only have time in the day to show up & vote
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Ed replied on Sep 22, 2008
I totally agree with the fact that Election Day should be a national state & federal holiday in every state and colony of our union. The only people who should be working, are the Election Commission, their staff, and volunteers. For all the talk of patriotism, “country first”, and responsibility for our great nation, there is no greater act than fulfilling your privledge to select your government representatives, or to show the importance of that act to the youth of America… or even, to have the opportunity to consciously object from it all without having other grounds for excuse.
However, I think several people here, and in many other forums, have expressed many issues that have arise and threaten to keep the process less than equitable. But there are some pretty common sense steps that I believe can be taken to make it as fair as possible…
Firstly, you have to acknowledge, that there are some employment sectors of our great country, that regardless of whether it’s a holiday or not, they still will need to go to work. Many of these are service jobs, some critical (police, fire, etc.), and some not-so-much (gas stations, food service/groceries, etc.).
Although I am very hesitant to restrict employers or business in any unreasonable way, I think it should be the responsibility of an employer who does not give their employee reasonable time to vote in their appropriate polling location, without penalty from their compensation, to provide an avenue to vote in some other fashion (absentee ballot, for example), where early voting is not available, or offered at times that are appropriate within the compensated schedule.
And this issue holds true regardless of the day on which an election is held. I’ve seen the suggestions of moving the election to a weekend. But, this is still relevant on weekend day. Oh, and people will be less likely to vote on a weekend day, because most people have plans on weekends. It’s true.Secondly, I think there is a major issue with the organization of state voting and voter registration laws from state to state. It’s interesting how one person in one state is subject to a specific set of restrictions, on the time, date, and place that their vote is to be cast, while in another state, the rules that apply, are completely different. Yet in the end, those two people are supposed to carry the same weight as equal votes? I doubt that to be the case.
For the majority of state issues, due to each state’s individual characteristics and special needs in specific areas, I am greatly in favor of state autonomy. But in such an important area as equality in the selection of a representative of the nation, that stands for the country and all of its citizens (more or less) equally, I think there needs to be a more uniform process of voter selection, and vote tallying/accumulation, and definitely certification of elections.
I don’t understand why, on an issue such as voting, where the nation (and some states in particular) has been so shamed and embarrassed before, the national politicians can’t rally for a more uniform and transparent process for voting, from start to finish. I understand that everyone wants to be in control somewhere, at sometime, but give me a break. Doesn’t it just get to the point where everyone is running around like a chicken with their head cut off, trying to get something in somewhere, by someone? But I digress…
I did want to point out though the direction of “independent” state election commissions by partisan politicians. Does anyone know of state election commissions that are mandated to be bipartisan, with bipartisan verification of election results? I think this might do wonders for transparency in the outcomes of elections.Anyway… I don’t know if I strayed a little off topic for this campaign.. which I totally support. But I seriously think more than just taking a day off of work, er should all contact our state and US senators & representatives, and tell them that we want a state & national holiday for election day, and why… that might get things going.
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Having a holiday on election day is standard practice in most countries, so doing so would not make our economy crumble. However, if the most committed voters take the day off, when there is no national holiday, that will make everyone else have to work longer / extra shifts, trapping them at work and effectively preventing them from voting—the exact opposite of what we’d like to have happen.
The best thing you can do, if you want people to be able to vote, is vote early and then offer to cover part of other people’s shifts, if that frees them up to vote. If you do take the day off, use it to a) work the polls b) watch the polls c) drive voters to the polls or d) watch a neighbor’s kids so he/she can get to the polls.
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