Democracy is only as effective as voters allow it to be. What's the point of championing and fighting overseas for an idea that we don't actively participate in at home? If government tradition inhibits the voters' ability to exercise their rights, it's simply counterproductive. Times have changed and America is far beyond an agrarian society, so the election process should catch up as well. The idea of moving election day to a weekend only makes sense, and, apparently, about half of Americans favor it. However, the moving of election day brings attention to other issues of election reform such as the location of polling centers and poll taxes. Larger polling centers, like the proposed Wal-Mart idea, may end up causing confusion for voters (and shoppers alike); smaller, widespread locations would be more convenient and allow for an easier election process, further encouraging political participation. The cost of election reform, according to Ornstein, at least, is almost negligible in context. More efficient spending of current poll taxes would probably take care of the monetary issues. As for the idea of making election day a national public holiday, it would not change the minds of those who did not intend to vote anyway. After all, who actually uses their time on Fair Day to go to the state fair? In the end, some skeptical or seriously apathetic Americans would still not be convinced into positive political efficacy, but the many who do not vote simply because they see it as an inconvenience or have other, more immediate, responsibilities, would benefit.
I think it would be a good idea to go with the plan modeled after walmart (not actually in a walmart though). However, I do not think that will solve the problem compleatly. As we have been talking about in class, some people just don't care about politics or feel that their vote mattered. Educating people on the candidates more and bolstering the trust in government may be an easier and more logical first step.
I think moving voting to the weekend or just making it more available in general is a good idea. Having voting on Tuesday is a tradition but it's an outdated tradition. It was delegated as the voting day because it was most convenient for an agrarian society. But today most people are working, tending to children, or just too busy to take time to vote on Tuesday. By moving the elections to the weekend the election process become more democratic because more people will be available to vote. It's unfair for people can may be very interested in politics but are unable to vote because the Tuesday election day is not possible for them to attend. Making voting as hard as it is does not promote the involvement of a majority of America's population. Making voting more accessible will be hopeful fix this problem.
I honestly think that the best solution would be to designate a series of days rather than have just one election day. While this would slow down results, it would allow people who may not be able to make it on election day to have a longer time span in which they can vote. While organization for this process would be more cumbersome, it could prove successful in encouraging more people to vote.
Changing the voting day from Tuesday to the weekends would be a beneficial and more democratic. Currently, the people who are able to vote on Tuesdays and choose to do so are usually white collar or some blue collar workers-- certainly not stay at home moms, or people who are forced to work 2 or 3 jobs due to their socioeconomic status. By moving the voting day to the weekends, the government will provide American citizens with a more approachable and possible method/day to vote without being hindered by work or family-- especially since it would be open 24/7. It would also be more democratic as each American is entitled to their right to vote and if the federal government can ensure that right and make sure that they do all in their power to encourage Americans to vote, they'd be fulfilling the mandate of democracy and the wish of American people who yearn to vote but are stopped by certain circumstances.
Moving voting day to the weekend, as the article suggests, would make voting more democratic because it gives the public more access to the government. It would make voting more convenient to the many working adults that are unable to vote simply because they are working on Tuesdays. The article makes an interesting point when the "Wal-Mart Approach" is discussed. Instead of the common interpretation that was discussed in class (literally moving voting booths to Wal-Mart), I believe the author wished to use Wal-Mart as a metaphor for what he believed would make voting more accessible. Wal-Mart is open 24/7, and the author suggests opening the voting booths for 24 hours to grant the most access (he suggests from noon Saturday to noon Sunday, to avoid any Sabbath Day controversy). Honestly, I think this is a good idea. When the tradition of voting on Tuesday began, Tuesday was the most convenient day for the primarily agricultural public to vote. Thus, the day was set based on convenience, to make voting easier and more accessible; in other words, in order to promote democracy, the founding fathers favored an option that was convenient to the public. Clearly, times have changed and we are no longer an agricultural society. Now that Tuesdays are certainly not the easiest day for the majority of the population to vote, it is time for a change. Voting on Saturday would essentially be in concurrence with the founding fathers' opinion that voting should be made as convenient as possible, to grant access to the democracy upon which our nation is founded.
Voting on weekends, in my opinion, would be a good thing. http://www.youtube.com/user/WhyTuesday?blend=2&ob=1#p/a/f/0/-e4QuxvSovw This link basically sums up my reason why: people are too busy on weekdays. They have jobs and other things to take care of as well. For 18-year-old that are in high school, one of those things is school. Weekend voting would make it easier for the majority of Americans to vote, and make elections much more democratic than before. Preferably, the general election day would be on a Saturday.
I totally agree with moving the Election Day to weekend! Although many people say that the Democracy is the worse form of the government (I can’t say I strong disagree with it), but the U.S. government is under Democracy and as a citizens, not only we should vote, but also the government has to eliminate (or at least try to eliminate) the factors of holding back people from voting. And I think one of the biggest factors of it is many people are too busy on Tuesday or any weekdays! When we think about citizens of American, many of us think about people who go to work at 7 a.m. and come back at 5 or 6, but most Americans work in service industry. Usually people who are in the service industry don’t get early enough to vote. This means we are losing millions of votes from average Americans. Yes, I believe my one Democrat vote won’t make ANY difference in Texas, but it’ll increase the political interest, and that’s what the citizens of Democracy needs to make better connection between people and government.
I feel that moving the voting to the weekend would be more democratic and an effective way to get more people to vote, but what I don't agree with is the idea of making voting so easy to the point of tweeting it or doing casting a ballot while you are checking out. The choice for the leaders of our nation should not be so informal, even if you know exactly who you are voting for. Even in that case it should be considered a big decision and treated as such with the appropriate setting and amount of thinking, not something to be tossed around as you buy chips and what is for dinner at walmart.
I think moving the election day from Tuesday to the weekend would make voting more democratic because then all the people who wanted to vote but couldn't before now can. I don't think that people who are undecided or unaware would participate all that much more because it still takes effort to register and get to the voting location. Most Americans seem to live their lives on the weekends. Once Friday ends everybody is making plans to go out and party and watch movies and catch up with all the tv shows that they missed during the week. I don't believe the uneducated mass would give up those things that they do on the weekends. Or I guess the highly oblivious members of society wouldn't. Now more voices who want to be heard can be heard! Most of the public don't even know why it's on Tuesday. I feel like if the Voting was moved from Tuesday to the weekend, then more people would start getting involved in politics because they know that they will be able to make it out to vote so they wouldn't think that keeping up with the political mumbo jumbo would be a waste of time because they don't have the luxury of being free on Tuesday.
I felt like that made no sense because it was full of run on sentences like nobody's business. Sorry.
Moving the voting date to Saturday would make it more democratic because it would enable every person to vote, not just those who dont have jobs or were able to take the day off to vote. A pure democracy would incorporate the votes of all the people, so taking a step towards that by allowing for more people to vote is certainly a democratic move
I think that the government should definetly provide a weekend day for voting. A lot of jobs in our society today, require employees to work difficult hours as well as multiple day shifts. This makes it very hard or even impossible for some people to make it out on Tuesday to vote. The idea of early voting takes away this issue for some people, but not for all because it still does not provide a day when people who are otherwise busy, could come out and vote. If the government decided to make that Tuesday a national holiday, then once again, it would allow some people to vote who otherwise couldn't; but people who work in professions such as law enforcement, hospitals, firemen, etc., those people need either a weekend to vote on, or an 24 hour voting booth, because the hours of normal voting booths don't fit their busy schedules. If anything, this would make the voting process more democratic, because it would provide an opportunity for virtually every elligible person to cast their vote and have a say in our government. Tuesday may have seemed like the most democratic option in the early days of our country, but in our current society, it provides an opportunity that only a certain percentage of our population can take advantage of, and that in itself seems to compromise the very idea of a true democracy.
The original Election Day was set in an agrarian society and set a tradition for our election day. However and obviously, America has modernized and changed its social settings. Moving the day to the weekends, when the time is less busy than Tuesday will be more convenient for the majority. By moving the date, more people will be able to vote. In a democracy, the people elect the government. So by allowing a preferable time to vote allows more people to vote in a more democratic setting. However, some people think of the idea that if people truly wants to vote and assert their opinion, then they will come to vote. Well, many have jobs, kids, and numerous tasks to excuse themselves from the event. In a democratic setting, the people choose the government. If more people cannot vote due to the date, then how can they be democratic? There will be consequences like people, who don’t really have a view on politics, just vote for the heck of it, but it will present a more democratic setting and give a fair chance for the people who couldn’t vote on Tuesday. Also, voting is for the people. Therefore, voting should be evolving like the social structure of the people.
Election Day should be moved to weekends. The pros definitely outweigh the cons because I can't even think of any cons. Election day should have originally been a weekend because almost everyone works during the week. Students also go to school on week days, whether it be college or high school, so they cannot vote once they turn the voting age. Even though Election day may interfere with weekend events such as church, it still gathers more people around than when it is on a week day. If one wanted to make election day available to all, the best idea would just be to make the day a holiday. That way, more people will get to vote. Many people will still be too lazy or apathetic to get up a vote, but for the most part, the voter turn out should be significantly higher.
Election day should be moved to the weekends because it'll increase the amount of voters, thus upping our VEP. If we had voting on weekends, it would increase our Democracy because it would give people more time to think about the choices they make in the president they vote for.
Our founding fathers believed that everyone would of voted during election day, however, they were not able to predict the events that were to occur during the 21st century. People in the present have jobs that consume their lives and inhibit from voting for who they believe would be the best president.
Honestly, moving the election day to the weekend is an okay idea, not great. The people who really want to vote and impact the government would find a way to go and vote on Tuesday, or vote with some method. If the government moves the voting day to the weekend, then people will find another excuse to not go and vote. Maybe they will be too busy because they are socializing with their friends or they don't have time because they have a family to shop for. Whatever a person's reason was on Tuesday not to vote, is going to be the same on the weekend, mostly. The people who vote on Tuesday are obviously more committed to voting than with those who make excuses. An advantage of moving the vote day to the weekend is that people have a better chance to vote, but I don't think that it will make a big difference.
Voting should be for more than one day. If we had early voting starting on tuesday and then the voting continued through until saturday there would be a chance for everyone to vote. If in the course of five days people can't find time to go and vote then its because they don't want to. This way everyone that wants to vote will have a good chance to. Plus, with more days to vote, there won't be a huge rush to the polls on one day causing extrememly long lines. The lines will be shorter, more people will be able to vote and voter turnout will most likely increase.
We had an interesting discussion about this at our table in class. If I remember correctly, we could not quite decide what the best plan would be. Tuesday was set in 1845 for a society that was comprised of mostly farmers; obviously that is not true today, but the problem is the voting population is so diverse in terms of age, occupation, family status, ect. that we would be hard-pressed to find a day that would be convient for most of America. For example, one lady in the video said she would not be voting because she had kids at home. Switching to a Saturday would not solve that problem at all. My parents have three kids who are all in multiple activities; Saturdays are for running around after everyone. It would definitely be more inconvient. And what about fireman, policeman, and medical workers? The emergency doesn't shut down for a day, even if the voting day were to be switched to a national holiday. I by no means think that we are going to find a single day to accomidate 307,000,000 people, but it's worth it to consider whether or not changing the voting day would make a significant impact at all. It is definitely worth a shot to switch to a Saturday or perhaps make the voting day a federal holiday just to see if it would make a change at all. How many people would just take the day off and still not make the effort to vote? Or else, would we loose some people who did vote because now they are home all day and their kids are not in school or daycare? It is worth it to consider changing the voting day, but it is also important to note that whatever day it is, people will still need to take the personal initiative to go vote.
General Election Day should be moved to the weekend, with so many current working adults that simply cannot afford to miss a regular scheduled workday the vast majority of Americans would benefit from moving the date. This of course isn't the only solution; general elections should be held on multiple days in order to ensure that everyone can be accommodated in some form or fashion. Election reform is needed and something that should be continually applied every election year I think. Based on anything going wrong the previous cycle the legislature should try to fix those problems so that way they do not occur the following election.
I think election day should be moved to the weekend because more people should be able to come out on the weekend and that would make it more democractic because democray is where each person has an eqaul chance to make a difference and by having election day on a tuesday the votes do not represent the working class that is unable to take a weekday off which is just not right.
I believe voting should be moved to the weekend! By making it Tuesday it seems as if the government does not want the public to be involved in the elections. That shows an un-democratic attitude. Like the video we saw in class, the more people vote the less of an impact one vote has, but without voting, a smaller unpredictable group is making the decisions. There really is no reason to why it should still be Tuesday, so i think that they should just change it to a Saturday so that more people can "participate" in government.
I believe general election day should be moved from Tuesday to the weekend because it allows more Americans that want to vote to be able to vote. At first, I also thought having a National Election Day would be good, but McCain made a good point by saying he doesn't know if Americans would take the day off and go on a short vacation. I'm not sure if moving election day to the weekedn would make voting more democratic then republican.
I believe Tuesday is an inconvenient day to vote for most Americans. As the article said, "45 percent [of Americans] would prefer moving elections to the weekend." The only reason that number isn't higher is because most citizens are probably apathetic about voting in general. With these certain reforms implemented to our voting system, voting would become more democratic since it would give many more people the opportunity to have their say. There is also the poll done that said "two-thirds of Americans want Congress to make voting easier." Although no one is being forced to vote, certain aspects of the whole process should be eased up to allow more people to give their input.
I personally strongly agree with Senator Hilary Clinton in the idea of a Federal Holiday that allows all who want to to vote to vote on a designated day in the elections, and I disagree with John McCain and his idea to do more campaining to promote voting and that people would just vacation on voting day. Now granted that many people would do that, but isn't that what a "Holiday" is? And voting doesn't take ALL day. In addition, I think I recall in class on Friday we were thinking as a class on how we could possibly improve voter turnout and someone suggested campainging for voting(like McCain), and I believe Christine V. made a comment that campaining "wouldnt do much because Americans already see enough campaining and they most likely wouldnt even pay attention to another one." My idea of a reasonalble solution for increasing voter turn out would be to give big companies a tax credit for giving their employees a limited time off to go vote. The companies can further help by creating their own policies that requires the voters to show proof of voting. This would ensure that the time alloted to go vote was actually used voting, and saves campaign dollars from ever being used. (Take that McCain!)
Weekend voting is the future. It has to be. In the video we viewed last week, the only reason for Tuesday voting was for the 1800's farmers. As if that doesn't say enough about the cause? It's outdated and it's inconvenient for Americans; in some ways it's even discouraging. Families need weekend opportunities to vote, working college students need 24-hour voting, nurses and medical employees on call need more than one day to have their say. And I don't think this is about being fair; it's about being just. Also, the video we viewed from the pessimistic economist, in class I think I said something along the lines of agreeing with the man. I don't necessarily agree actually, the more I think about it, I disagree. Even if mathematically our votes are insignificant, I still think it matters. Although I do see the correlation between the cost vs. benefit argument. I would likely vote because I know I would feel it in my heart/head that I contributed, that I did my part. Instead of shooting statistics, or lying by saying that a single vote does count, it would be really cool if we could somehow instill that sense of duty or that sense of accomplishment that comes with voting. I'm not exactly sure how to accomplish that, and I don't think we should somehow try and make people feel that, but for them to come to that feeling on their own. That's a really out-there idea, I know that. But I think if we could all feel that, we would all vote, and insignificance wouldn't really matter.
(Plus, I really like Why Tuesday?'s advertisement style.)
I think Election day should be moved to the weekend, so voter turnout will increase. Some may argue that even if there will be an increase in votes, there may not be an increase in votes for the right president. Some also argue that when voting for a president, it is important to not vote for the party, but what the president believes in [his policies]. I believe that everyone who is a citizen of the united states has the right to vote and by moving the elections to the weekend will give a chance for more time and convienience. By voting on the weekends, classes and functions won't be disrupted. Or better yet, make Election Day a national holiday!
General election day should be moved from Tuesday to the weekend in order to allow more opportunity for a mass number of people to vote. According to the Why Tuesday? video we watched in class, people who work in the medical field, education, or other weekday jobs do not have time to take a day off. Opening up the weekend when a lot of the middle class workers are free allows them to take time to go and vote. Of course it seems like maybe people don't care enough about politics to take a day off and vote, but that may not be the case.
I think moving election day to the weekend would be more democratic because it's allowing people who, if we followed stereotypes, are democratic to vote -- that being middle-class workers. The other side of the stereotype being that Republicans have big pockets. So with that being said, why Tuesday? I call for the weekend.
I think moving the voting day to the weekend is more convenient to most people because during the week is hectic for most. since we are an urban society Saturday and Sunday most people just relax and go shopping and to church so there would be more in between time for voting. I also think it would make it more democratic because this decision would be excericed by and for the people.
I think that elections should be moved to the weekends. Weekend voting would allow more people to vote who work on the week days or are too busy to vote because they have to take care of their kids. Tuesday may have been convenient for people in the 1700's but we live in the 21st century now. It’s time that we changed voting to meet the needs of the modern American. The article makes some good suggestions like opening the polls for 24 hours and allowing early voting a couple of days before the actual voting date. I think these changes would give more people opportunity to vote because they have more choice in when they vote. Hopefully if these changes are put in place, people will take advantage of the many opportunities they have to cast their ballot.
I think the general election should be moved from Tuesday to the weekend. If it's moved, more citizens who care about who is elected will be able to vote for what they believe in. If it stays on Tuesday, many citizens who can't take time off work to vote won't have a say in what they want. It wouldn't be very fair for those people, especially people who work 24/7 jobs, with no way to take any time off work.
I think moving the election day would make voting more democratic because most people would be able to vote, giving everyone a fair shot to choose what they want in our society.
The question of weather or not changing the election to a weekend would give more people the ability to vote is not a question, with more of an opportunity to vote numbers would increase, at the very least a little bit. The real question is weather or not it's better for more people to have the opportunity to vote. The two extreme sides of this argument are both bad though, so neither is correct. By making it harder to vote by imposing things like literacy tests would impose on the entire idea of democracy. On the other hand though forcing everyone to vote may be bad because they vote for people whom they know nothing about to an job in which they are unsure of it's powers. By staying near the middle by having elections on Tuesdays to me seem like a good medium in which people who have the willingness to vote will and people who don't wont, thus neither restricting peoples democratic rights, nor making it a completely open vote in which people have absolutely no idea how the process works.
I think moving voting day to the weekend is a great idea. It seems practical to change it because the original voting day was put in place to convenience farmers when America was an agrarian society. Now that America is industrialized, it only makes sense to accommodate those working professionals who would not be able to make it on a weekday. Also, the idea of early voting on the Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday leading up to election is great because it gives people more options and leaves no excuse for people to not vote. The motion to create 24 hour voting day is also a smart move. However, I'm not sure that declining levels of voter turnout require the government to make it effortless for people to vote. People who care about the issues will vote and those who don't care won't and, in my opinion, shouldn’t. I would rather a small amount of educated citizens vote than have a more direct democracy where people simply voted for the sake of voting. Our government was created so as to keep the tyranny of the masses in check, and for a good reason.
I think moving general elections to the weekend should be viable. I believe it doesn't make much of a difference but if the public demand is for it to move to the weekend then it should be considered. I think the walmart approach is excellent and would be more democratic. People could potentially vote out of convenience too. Many people don't vote because they don't care or are too lazy to, and since grocery shopping can be done on the weekends, Walmart the poll place would be ideal. Voters can shop, then vote on their way out. This could increase voter turn out and it would be more democratic because it gives people both the convenience and the option to have an input in who they are being governed by.
Election day should be moved to the weekends where it can benefit a variety of people. Having elections on Tuesday isn't needed anymore because we are no longer concerned with agrarian scheduales for farming. The working class would benefit from having elections over the weekend. Having elections on a day when more people are available should only be seen are more democratic. Sure many upper class aren't complaining about voting on a Tuesday because they don't have to worry about getting off from work or who's watching the kids. Weekend elections make the process more fair on a whole and will better represent America's general population.
Election day should be moved from Tuesday to the weekend as it would make the election process more democratic. As discussed in class, Tuesday is an inconvenient day for many Americans. Many people work on Tuesday and don't have time to go to the ballots to vote. Tuesday is not some magical day that's ideal for voting, it was just the most convenient day for the people in 1845. In 1845. Our country is no longer an agrarian-dominant society. The article (http://www.whytuesday.org/answer/) points out that we are an urban society and most people don't vote because it's inconvenient. If election day were moved to the weekend, more people would be able to vote, thus making voting more democratic.
I believe that elections should be moved to the weekends. We are different society now than back when we established voting regulations. They originally based the voting on farming seasons so that it would not impact the harvest of the crops. Back then farming was the majority occupation of the earlier society, however now we have moved into more service and technological occupations and voting times need to fit in our very compact schedules. Also, I believe it would make it more democratic than before. This would allow more people to reach the polls who couldn't do so before hand. This allows for more people to express their opinion in who runs our nation. Also people may argue that this would allow more people who don't care about or just don't know enough about politics to vote. However, if those people weren't making the effort to come in on a Tuesday or to early voting, then they would not bother coming in on the weekend. In all, voting needs to be more flexible to our new society standards and should be moved to the weekend in order to generate a larger voting turnout.
Personally, I think that since it's against the law to not allow someone off to go vote during the day on Tuesday, then why move it? Honestly, most families I know would actually have less time to go on the weekend than on Tuesday. From the time my family wakes up in the morning until dinner time, sometimes even later, we are constantly busy. Whether it be for my brother's soccer games or just the multitude of errands we have to run, there would be no time. So, if there it is not a huge problem, why change it? There are bigger problems to worry about other than what day of the week voting takes place. People who say they can't get off work to vote are just making excuses, their employers have to let them off, so they just don't go because it's inconveinent. No matter what day voting takes place on, it'll be inconveinent for someone.
I think that moving election day from Tuesday to the weekend would be a good idea. It would give everyone a fairer chance of getting to the polls. It makes sense that a lot of people can't make it on Tuesdays because of work and being too busy during the week. Moving election day to the weekend would make voting more democratic because it would give more people an equal chance to exercise their right to vote.
No, I don't think moving the election date to the weekend would make voting less democratic. People are just wanting to move election dates to the weekend which is fitting for a changing society. America isn't an agrarian society anymore, America is industrialized, and moving election dates to the weekend doesn't harm anyone. Also, I agree with Ornstein on the Wal-Mart approach of voting. Moving voting sites to places where people go almost everyday would be more convenient and more people would vote.
Sure. Move voting to the weekend. If the only argument as to why it shouldn't be done is the fact that voting on Tuesday marks tradition, go ahead. Ornstein's proposal, 24 hour period from noon Saturday to Sunday, seems like a legitimate solution. This shift seems to be more of an appeasement for the public, as opposed to a push for drastic change. The chances that this shift will favor a particular party are slim to none.
I think that voting should definitely be moved to Saturday. There is a good amount of people in this country that will simply over look the importance of voting if they have obstacles such as getting to work, going to little Johnny's soccer game and or watching American Idol. Switching voting to Saturday would easily open the opportunity for many people who commute throughout the weekdays to be able to vote without having the stress of a schedule weighing down on them. Moving it to Saturday would also make the voting process more marketable and relatable to people who watch t.v during the week. Ads played during programming could easily attract people to a "Voting Satuday". The election day itself could be marketed as a "Bring your whole family! Activities! Picnic! Free Food!" type of event. I honestly think this move needs to be made in order for more voter participation. After all, people need to exert their right to vote. Not all citizens on this earth have that right.
As discussed in class, the general election day being on Tuesday was a policy set in place many years ago to allow farmers and rural citizens in America the chance to vote. However now, having it on Tuesday only lowers the voter turnout. Changing the general election day to the weekend would allow for more people to vote and, in that sense, make the process more democratic.
Without seeing actual results, it's difficult to actually decide whether or not general election day should be moved from Tuesday to the weekend. Although there is early voting available, the final days of campaign could be vital in a citizen's decision in the voting process due to all of the information that comes along with that time period. Many say that their jobs and schedules interfere with their abilities to vote on Tuesday, but would they actually take the time to vote if they did have the option of voting on the weekend instead? For some people, the decision to not vote is just because of the general decline in civic engagement. If moving voting to the weekend actually gets citizens to participate in voting, then yes, it would make voting more democratic. It would give people who usually don't have the chance to vote on Tuesday to finally have a say in what they believe and more political equality. Voter turnout is at a low in the U.S. and I believe that anything that will make our citizens more politically active would be a positive change. As stated in "Why Tuesday?", young voters, African-American voters, and working parents favor weekend voting, so maybe voter turnout will increase if the changes are made.
I think that general election day should be moved to the weekend. It makes voting more democratic because, according to the "Why Tuesday?" article, 45% of Americans would favor moving elections to the weekend. And if that many Americans want to have elections moved, than they should. Also, most Americans are middle class, which means they have a 9 to 5 job during weekdays. It is physically hard for a person who has been working hard all day to get the strength to stand in line for however many hours,just to cast a vote. This problem would be solved if voting was moved to Saturday, a day that most workers have off. Therefore, they would actually have time to go to the polls.
Why Tuesday? Conflicts that comes up with polling on Tuesday is the availability of everyone to vote. Many people have other commitments like work or school. It creates more frustration and less participation for American citizens to vote. Moving election day from Tuesday to the weekend is a good idea, giving many potential voters the chance to give their own individual input. This act would very much make voting more democratic because it is for the better and convenience of others.
Yes, it should be moved to the weekend. Back in 1845, when this date was set as the first Tesday after the first Monday of November, it was to accomodate with the agarian schedules. Well, times have changed and we must adapt to it. A majority of Americans nowadays work a tight schedule Monday to Friday, giving them freetime only on the weekend or before or after work. This only means a longer line for people that can only vote before or after work. It would be fine if by law everyone was alotted a certain amount of time throughout day to go vote than voting on Tuesday wouldn't be much of an inconvience. I just turn 18, which means I am legal to vote and due to schools, the weekends would definitely accomodate to my schedule a lot better. By moving the election day to Friday, I believe it would increase the election turn out in our nation and more votes means more democracy. Our countru is based on a representative government through democracy and the more we vote the more we can be rightfully represented.
Because people cannot be forced to vote as in countries like Australia and Italy, voting should make a move to the weekend. The placement right now, as referenced in the article, is suited best to those who stand by an "agrarian schedule." Since voting is considered a democratic duty, the citizens of the US should be given ample time to complete their ballots. The weekend seems to present the best opportunity for widespread democracy. And according to Goeas and Lake, 45 percent of Americans would favor this push to the weekend. So this extension would easily be favorable to many people and should be seriously considered.
I certainly don't see a problem with moving the general election day to a Saturday. If the government wants more voter turnout, then this may very well be the solution they're looking for. I'm sure that some people may not be able to make it to the polls on Saturday either, but due to the fact that it would eliminate the conflict with the 5-day work week, it seems like more people would be able to make it on Saturday than on Tuesday.
As for whether or not it would make it more democratic, I would have to say no. Voting is a democratic process in itself. The election day is not held on Tuesday to exclude certain people from voting. Therefore, the government has no hand in who ends up voting and who doesn't; it's completely up to the individual as to whether or not they can make it. Democratic is not a relative term. Just because some people can't vote due to their own inconveniences does not mean that the process becomes any less democratic or any less honest and true to that concept. Not to mention the fact that the electoral college prevents elections from being a true democratic process anyway.
I belive it should either be moved to the weekend or voting Tuesday should be made a holiday. The only problem I see with it being made a holiday is, some people would just take advantage o the extra day off and just stay at home and not take advantage of the day off to VOTE. This could also be a good thing because only the people who really care will get out and vote which probably would make the presidential election a little more fair because people would vote because of the type of president the would be and how well they would lead this country other than how good he looks or how well he speaks. Moving it to the weekend would probably be the best option in my opinion because a lot of people are off they are out and about and would probably go ahead and find a place to vote, since they are already out. I believe there would be a much greater turnout for the number of voters. No it wouldn't be more demacratic because there are registered republican voters who may work during the week and can't go vote so I don't believe it would make it more democratic.
In my oppinion, people don't have the time to vote on Tuesday. During the weekdays people are busy with work, family and other activities. If we were to change the voting day to a weekend, people will be willing to go and vote peacefully and not in between breaks at work. As it is now people rush to vote before or after work, or on lunch breaks. Saturday is a day of leisure anyway and it would be much easier for most to get to the polls on that day.
Election day should most definitely be moved to the weekend -- Tuesday may have made more sense in the 1800s, but it is now nothing more than an arbitrary day for voting which limits who can vote, and therefore limits the reach of our democracy.
Democracy is only as effective as voters allow it to be. What's the point of championing and fighting overseas for an idea that we don't actively participate in at home?
ReplyDeleteIf government tradition inhibits the voters' ability to exercise their rights, it's simply counterproductive. Times have changed and America is far beyond an agrarian society, so the election process should catch up as well.
The idea of moving election day to a weekend only makes sense, and, apparently, about half of Americans favor it. However, the moving of election day brings attention to other issues of election reform such as the location of polling centers and poll taxes. Larger polling centers, like the proposed Wal-Mart idea, may end up causing confusion for voters (and shoppers alike); smaller, widespread locations would be more convenient and allow for an easier election process, further encouraging political participation. The cost of election reform, according to Ornstein, at least, is almost negligible in context. More efficient spending of current poll taxes would probably take care of the monetary issues.
As for the idea of making election day a national public holiday, it would not change the minds of those who did not intend to vote anyway. After all, who actually uses their time on Fair Day to go to the state fair?
In the end, some skeptical or seriously apathetic Americans would still not be convinced into positive political efficacy, but the many who do not vote simply because they see it as an inconvenience or have other, more immediate, responsibilities, would benefit.
I think it would be a good idea to go with the plan modeled after walmart (not actually in a walmart though). However, I do not think that will solve the problem compleatly. As we have been talking about in class, some people just don't care about politics or feel that their vote mattered. Educating people on the candidates more and bolstering the trust in government may be an easier and more logical first step.
ReplyDeleteI think moving voting to the weekend or just making it more available in general is a good idea. Having voting on Tuesday is a tradition but it's an outdated tradition. It was delegated as the voting day because it was most convenient for an agrarian society. But today most people are working, tending to children, or just too busy to take time to vote on Tuesday. By moving the elections to the weekend the election process become more democratic because more people will be available to vote. It's unfair for people can may be very interested in politics but are unable to vote because the Tuesday election day is not possible for them to attend. Making voting as hard as it is does not promote the involvement of a majority of America's population. Making voting more accessible will be hopeful fix this problem.
ReplyDeleteI honestly think that the best solution would be to designate a series of days rather than have just one election day. While this would slow down results, it would allow people who may not be able to make it on election day to have a longer time span in which they can vote. While organization for this process would be more cumbersome, it could prove successful in encouraging more people to vote.
ReplyDeleteChanging the voting day from Tuesday to the weekends would be a beneficial and more democratic. Currently, the people who are able to vote on Tuesdays and choose to do so are usually white collar or some blue collar workers-- certainly not stay at home moms, or people who are forced to work 2 or 3 jobs due to their socioeconomic status. By moving the voting day to the weekends, the government will provide American citizens with a more approachable and possible method/day to vote without being hindered by work or family-- especially since it would be open 24/7.
ReplyDeleteIt would also be more democratic as each American is entitled to their right to vote and if the federal government can ensure that right and make sure that they do all in their power to encourage Americans to vote, they'd be fulfilling the mandate of democracy and the wish of American people who yearn to vote but are stopped by certain circumstances.
Moving voting day to the weekend, as the article suggests, would make voting more democratic because it gives the public more access to the government. It would make voting more convenient to the many working adults that are unable to vote simply because they are working on Tuesdays. The article makes an interesting point when the "Wal-Mart Approach" is discussed. Instead of the common interpretation that was discussed in class (literally moving voting booths to Wal-Mart), I believe the author wished to use Wal-Mart as a metaphor for what he believed would make voting more accessible. Wal-Mart is open 24/7, and the author suggests opening the voting booths for 24 hours to grant the most access (he suggests from noon Saturday to noon Sunday, to avoid any Sabbath Day controversy). Honestly, I think this is a good idea. When the tradition of voting on Tuesday began, Tuesday was the most convenient day for the primarily agricultural public to vote. Thus, the day was set based on convenience, to make voting easier and more accessible; in other words, in order to promote democracy, the founding fathers favored an option that was convenient to the public. Clearly, times have changed and we are no longer an agricultural society. Now that Tuesdays are certainly not the easiest day for the majority of the population to vote, it is time for a change. Voting on Saturday would essentially be in concurrence with the founding fathers' opinion that voting should be made as convenient as possible, to grant access to the democracy upon which our nation is founded.
ReplyDeleteVoting on weekends, in my opinion, would be a good thing.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/user/WhyTuesday?blend=2&ob=1#p/a/f/0/-e4QuxvSovw
This link basically sums up my reason why: people are too busy on weekdays. They have jobs and other things to take care of as well. For 18-year-old that are in high school, one of those things is school. Weekend voting would make it easier for the majority of Americans to vote, and make elections much more democratic than before. Preferably, the general election day would be on a Saturday.
I totally agree with moving the Election Day to weekend! Although many people say that the Democracy is the worse form of the government (I can’t say I strong disagree with it), but the U.S. government is under Democracy and as a citizens, not only we should vote, but also the government has to eliminate (or at least try to eliminate) the factors of holding back people from voting. And I think one of the biggest factors of it is many people are too busy on Tuesday or any weekdays! When we think about citizens of American, many of us think about people who go to work at 7 a.m. and come back at 5 or 6, but most Americans work in service industry. Usually people who are in the service industry don’t get early enough to vote. This means we are losing millions of votes from average Americans.
ReplyDeleteYes, I believe my one Democrat vote won’t make ANY difference in Texas, but it’ll increase the political interest, and that’s what the citizens of Democracy needs to make better connection between people and government.
I feel that moving the voting to the weekend would be more democratic and an effective way to get more people to vote, but what I don't agree with is the idea of making voting so easy to the point of tweeting it or doing casting a ballot while you are checking out. The choice for the leaders of our nation should not be so informal, even if you know exactly who you are voting for. Even in that case it should be considered a big decision and treated as such with the appropriate setting and amount of thinking, not something to be tossed around as you buy chips and what is for dinner at walmart.
ReplyDeleteI think moving the election day from Tuesday to the weekend would make voting more democratic because then all the people who wanted to vote but couldn't before now can. I don't think that people who are undecided or unaware would participate all that much more because it still takes effort to register and get to the voting location. Most Americans seem to live their lives on the weekends. Once Friday ends everybody is making plans to go out and party and watch movies and catch up with all the tv shows that they missed during the week. I don't believe the uneducated mass would give up those things that they do on the weekends. Or I guess the highly oblivious members of society wouldn't. Now more voices who want to be heard can be heard! Most of the public don't even know why it's on Tuesday. I feel like if the Voting was moved from Tuesday to the weekend, then more people would start getting involved in politics because they know that they will be able to make it out to vote so they wouldn't think that keeping up with the political mumbo jumbo would be a waste of time because they don't have the luxury of being free on Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteI felt like that made no sense because it was full of run on sentences like nobody's business. Sorry.
Moving the voting date to Saturday would make it more democratic because it would enable every person to vote, not just those who dont have jobs or were able to take the day off to vote. A pure democracy would incorporate the votes of all the people, so taking a step towards that by allowing for more people to vote is certainly a democratic move
ReplyDeleteI think that the government should definetly provide a weekend day for voting. A lot of jobs in our society today, require employees to work difficult hours as well as multiple day shifts. This makes it very hard or even impossible for some people to make it out on Tuesday to vote. The idea of early voting takes away this issue for some people, but not for all because it still does not provide a day when people who are otherwise busy, could come out and vote. If the government decided to make that Tuesday a national holiday, then once again, it would allow some people to vote who otherwise couldn't; but people who work in professions such as law enforcement, hospitals, firemen, etc., those people need either a weekend to vote on, or an 24 hour voting booth, because the hours of normal voting booths don't fit their busy schedules. If anything, this would make the voting process more democratic, because it would provide an opportunity for virtually every elligible person to cast their vote and have a say in our government. Tuesday may have seemed like the most democratic option in the early days of our country, but in our current society, it provides an opportunity that only a certain percentage of our population can take advantage of, and that in itself seems to compromise the very idea of a true democracy.
ReplyDeleteThe original Election Day was set in an agrarian society and set a tradition for our election day. However and obviously, America has modernized and changed its social settings. Moving the day to the weekends, when the time is less busy than Tuesday will be more convenient for the majority. By moving the date, more people will be able to vote. In a democracy, the people elect the government. So by allowing a preferable time to vote allows more people to vote in a more democratic setting. However, some people think of the idea that if people truly wants to vote and assert their opinion, then they will come to vote. Well, many have jobs, kids, and numerous tasks to excuse themselves from the event. In a democratic setting, the people choose the government. If more people cannot vote due to the date, then how can they be democratic? There will be consequences like people, who don’t really have a view on politics, just vote for the heck of it, but it will present a more democratic setting and give a fair chance for the people who couldn’t vote on Tuesday. Also, voting is for the people. Therefore, voting should be evolving like the social structure of the people.
ReplyDeleteElection Day should be moved to weekends. The pros definitely outweigh the cons because I can't even think of any cons. Election day should have originally been a weekend because almost everyone works during the week. Students also go to school on week days, whether it be college or high school, so they cannot vote once they turn the voting age. Even though Election day may interfere with weekend events such as church, it still gathers more people around than when it is on a week day. If one wanted to make election day available to all, the best idea would just be to make the day a holiday. That way, more people will get to vote. Many people will still be too lazy or apathetic to get up a vote, but for the most part, the voter turn out should be significantly higher.
ReplyDeleteElection day should be moved to the weekends because it'll increase the amount of voters, thus upping our VEP. If we had voting on weekends, it would increase our Democracy because it would give people more time to think about the choices they make in the president they vote for.
ReplyDeleteOur founding fathers believed that everyone would of voted during election day, however, they were not able to predict the events that were to occur during the 21st century. People in the present have jobs that consume their lives and inhibit from voting for who they believe would be the best president.
Honestly, moving the election day to the weekend is an okay idea, not great. The people who really want to vote and impact the government would find a way to go and vote on Tuesday, or vote with some method. If the government moves the voting day to the weekend, then people will find another excuse to not go and vote. Maybe they will be too busy because they are socializing with their friends or they don't have time because they have a family to shop for. Whatever a person's reason was on Tuesday not to vote, is going to be the same on the weekend, mostly. The people who vote on Tuesday are obviously more committed to voting than with those who make excuses. An advantage of moving the vote day to the weekend is that people have a better chance to vote, but I don't think that it will make a big difference.
ReplyDeleteVoting should be for more than one day. If we had early voting starting on tuesday and then the voting continued through until saturday there would be a chance for everyone to vote. If in the course of five days people can't find time to go and vote then its because they don't want to. This way everyone that wants to vote will have a good chance to. Plus, with more days to vote, there won't be a huge rush to the polls on one day causing extrememly long lines. The lines will be shorter, more people will be able to vote and voter turnout will most likely increase.
ReplyDeleteWe had an interesting discussion about this at our table in class. If I remember correctly, we could not quite decide what the best plan would be.
ReplyDeleteTuesday was set in 1845 for a society that was comprised of mostly farmers; obviously that is not true today, but the problem is the voting population is so diverse in terms of age, occupation, family status, ect. that we would be hard-pressed to find a day that would be convient for most of America. For example, one lady in the video said she would not be voting because she had kids at home. Switching to a Saturday would not solve that problem at all. My parents have three kids who are all in multiple activities; Saturdays are for running around after everyone. It would definitely be more inconvient. And what about fireman, policeman, and medical workers? The emergency doesn't shut down for a day, even if the voting day were to be switched to a national holiday.
I by no means think that we are going to find a single day to accomidate 307,000,000 people, but it's worth it to consider whether or not changing the voting day would make a significant impact at all. It is definitely worth a shot to switch to a Saturday or perhaps make the voting day a federal holiday just to see if it would make a change at all. How many people would just take the day off and still not make the effort to vote? Or else, would we loose some people who did vote because now they are home all day and their kids are not in school or daycare?
It is worth it to consider changing the voting day, but it is also important to note that whatever day it is, people will still need to take the personal initiative to go vote.
General Election Day should be moved to the weekend, with so many current working adults that simply cannot afford to miss a regular scheduled workday the vast majority of Americans would benefit from moving the date. This of course isn't the only solution; general elections should be held on multiple days in order to ensure that everyone can be accommodated in some form or fashion. Election reform is needed and something that should be continually applied every election year I think. Based on anything going wrong the previous cycle the legislature should try to fix those problems so that way they do not occur the following election.
ReplyDeleteI think election day should be moved to the weekend because more people should be able to come out on the weekend and that would make it more democractic because democray is where each person has an eqaul chance to make a difference and by having election day on a tuesday the votes do not represent the working class that is unable to take a weekday off which is just not right.
ReplyDeleteI believe voting should be moved to the weekend! By making it Tuesday it seems as if the government does not want the public to be involved in the elections. That shows an un-democratic attitude. Like the video we saw in class, the more people vote the less of an impact one vote has, but without voting, a smaller unpredictable group is making the decisions. There really is no reason to why it should still be Tuesday, so i think that they should just change it to a Saturday so that more people can "participate" in government.
ReplyDeleteI believe general election day should be moved from Tuesday to the weekend because it allows more Americans that want to vote to be able to vote. At first, I also thought having a National Election Day would be good, but McCain made a good point by saying he doesn't know if Americans would take the day off and go on a short vacation. I'm not sure if moving election day to the weekedn would make voting more democratic then republican.
ReplyDeleteI believe Tuesday is an inconvenient day to vote for most Americans. As the article said, "45 percent [of Americans] would prefer moving elections to the weekend." The only reason that number isn't higher is because most citizens are probably apathetic about voting in general. With these certain reforms implemented to our voting system, voting would become more democratic since it would give many more people the opportunity to have their say. There is also the poll done that said "two-thirds of Americans want Congress to make voting easier." Although no one is being forced to vote, certain aspects of the whole process should be eased up to allow more people to give their input.
ReplyDeleteI personally strongly agree with Senator Hilary Clinton in the idea of a Federal Holiday that allows all who want to to vote to vote on a designated day in the elections, and I disagree with John McCain and his idea to do more campaining to promote voting and that people would just vacation on voting day. Now granted that many people would do that, but isn't that what a "Holiday" is? And voting doesn't take ALL day. In addition, I think I recall in class on Friday we were thinking as a class on how we could possibly improve voter turnout and someone suggested campainging for voting(like McCain), and I believe Christine V. made a comment that campaining "wouldnt do much because Americans already see enough campaining and they most likely wouldnt even pay attention to another one." My idea of a reasonalble solution for increasing voter turn out would be to give big companies a tax credit for giving their employees a limited time off to go vote. The companies can further help by creating their own policies that requires the voters to show proof of voting. This would ensure that the time alloted to go vote was actually used voting, and saves campaign dollars from ever being used. (Take that McCain!)
ReplyDeleteWeekend voting is the future. It has to be.
ReplyDeleteIn the video we viewed last week, the only reason for Tuesday voting was for the 1800's farmers. As if that doesn't say enough about the cause? It's outdated and it's inconvenient for Americans; in some ways it's even discouraging. Families need weekend opportunities to vote, working college students need 24-hour voting, nurses and medical employees on call need more than one day to have their say. And I don't think this is about being fair; it's about being just.
Also, the video we viewed from the pessimistic economist, in class I think I said something along the lines of agreeing with the man. I don't necessarily agree actually, the more I think about it, I disagree. Even if mathematically our votes are insignificant, I still think it matters. Although I do see the correlation between the cost vs. benefit argument. I would likely vote because I know I would feel it in my heart/head that I contributed, that I did my part. Instead of shooting statistics, or lying by saying that a single vote does count, it would be really cool if we could somehow instill that sense of duty or that sense of accomplishment that comes with voting. I'm not exactly sure how to accomplish that, and I don't think we should somehow try and make people feel that, but for them to come to that feeling on their own. That's a really out-there idea, I know that. But I think if we could all feel that, we would all vote, and insignificance wouldn't really matter.
(Plus, I really like Why Tuesday?'s advertisement style.)
I think Election day should be moved to the weekend, so voter turnout will increase. Some may argue that even if there will be an increase in votes, there may not be an increase in votes for the right president. Some also argue that when voting for a president, it is important to not vote for the party, but what the president believes in [his policies]. I believe that everyone who is a citizen of the united states has the right to vote and by moving the elections to the weekend will give a chance for more time and convienience. By voting on the weekends, classes and functions won't be disrupted. Or better yet, make Election Day a national holiday!
ReplyDeleteGeneral election day should be moved from Tuesday to the weekend in order to allow more opportunity for a mass number of people to vote. According to the Why Tuesday? video we watched in class, people who work in the medical field, education, or other weekday jobs do not have time to take a day off. Opening up the weekend when a lot of the middle class workers are free allows them to take time to go and vote. Of course it seems like maybe people don't care enough about politics to take a day off and vote, but that may not be the case.
ReplyDeleteI think moving election day to the weekend would be more democratic because it's allowing people who, if we followed stereotypes, are democratic to vote -- that being middle-class workers. The other side of the stereotype being that Republicans have big pockets. So with that being said, why Tuesday? I call for the weekend.
I think moving the voting day to the weekend is more convenient to most people because during the week is hectic for most. since we are an urban society Saturday and Sunday most people just relax and go shopping and to church so there would be more in between time for voting. I also think it would make it more democratic because this decision would be excericed by and for the people.
ReplyDeleteI think that elections should be moved to the weekends. Weekend voting would allow more people to vote who work on the week days or are too busy to vote because they have to take care of their kids. Tuesday may have been convenient for people in the 1700's but we live in the 21st century now. It’s time that we changed voting to meet the needs of the modern American. The article makes some good suggestions like opening the polls for 24 hours and allowing early voting a couple of days before the actual voting date. I think these changes would give more people opportunity to vote because they have more choice in when they vote. Hopefully if these changes are put in place, people will take advantage of the many opportunities they have to cast their ballot.
ReplyDeleteI think the general election should be moved from Tuesday to the weekend. If it's moved, more citizens who care about who is elected will be able to vote for what they believe in. If it stays on Tuesday, many citizens who can't take time off work to vote won't have a say in what they want. It wouldn't be very fair for those people, especially people who work 24/7 jobs, with no way to take any time off work.
ReplyDeleteI think moving the election day would make voting more democratic because most people would be able to vote, giving everyone a fair shot to choose what they want in our society.
The question of weather or not changing the election to a weekend would give more people the ability to vote is not a question, with more of an opportunity to vote numbers would increase, at the very least a little bit. The real question is weather or not it's better for more people to have the opportunity to vote. The two extreme sides of this argument are both bad though, so neither is correct. By making it harder to vote by imposing things like literacy tests would impose on the entire idea of democracy. On the other hand though forcing everyone to vote may be bad because they vote for people whom they know nothing about to an job in which they are unsure of it's powers. By staying near the middle by having elections on Tuesdays to me seem like a good medium in which people who have the willingness to vote will and people who don't wont, thus neither restricting peoples democratic rights, nor making it a completely open vote in which people have absolutely no idea how the process works.
ReplyDeleteI think moving voting day to the weekend is a great idea. It seems practical to change it because the original voting day was put in place to convenience farmers when America was an agrarian society. Now that America is industrialized, it only makes sense to accommodate those working professionals who would not be able to make it on a weekday. Also, the idea of early voting on the Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday leading up to election is great because it gives people more options and leaves no excuse for people to not vote. The motion to create 24 hour voting day is also a smart move.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I'm not sure that declining levels of voter turnout require the government to make it effortless for people to vote. People who care about the issues will vote and those who don't care won't and, in my opinion, shouldn’t. I would rather a small amount of educated citizens vote than have a more direct democracy where people simply voted for the sake of voting. Our government was created so as to keep the tyranny of the masses in check, and for a good reason.
I think moving general elections to the weekend should be viable. I believe it doesn't make much of a difference but if the public demand is for it to move to the weekend then it should be considered. I think the walmart approach is excellent and would be more democratic. People could potentially vote out of convenience too. Many people don't vote because they don't care or are too lazy to, and since grocery shopping can be done on the weekends, Walmart the poll place would be ideal. Voters can shop, then vote on their way out. This could increase voter turn out and it would be more democratic because it gives people both the convenience and the option to have an input in who they are being governed by.
ReplyDeleteElection day should be moved to the weekends where it can benefit a variety of people. Having elections on Tuesday isn't needed anymore because we are no longer concerned with agrarian scheduales for farming. The working class would benefit from having elections over the weekend. Having elections on a day when more people are available should only be seen are more democratic. Sure many upper class aren't complaining about voting on a Tuesday because they don't have to worry about getting off from work or who's watching the kids. Weekend elections make the process more fair on a whole and will better represent America's general population.
ReplyDeleteElection day should be moved from Tuesday to the weekend as it would make the election process more democratic. As discussed in class, Tuesday is an inconvenient day for many Americans. Many people work on Tuesday and don't have time to go to the ballots to vote.
ReplyDeleteTuesday is not some magical day that's ideal for voting, it was just the most convenient day for the people in 1845.
In 1845.
Our country is no longer an agrarian-dominant society. The article (http://www.whytuesday.org/answer/) points out that we are an urban society and most people don't vote because it's inconvenient. If election day were moved to the weekend, more people would be able to vote, thus making voting more democratic.
I believe that elections should be moved to the weekends. We are different society now than back when we established voting regulations. They originally based the voting on farming seasons so that it would not impact the harvest of the crops. Back then farming was the majority occupation of the earlier society, however now we have moved into more service and technological occupations and voting times need to fit in our very compact schedules.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I believe it would make it more democratic than before. This would allow more people to reach the polls who couldn't do so before hand. This allows for more people to express their opinion in who runs our nation. Also people may argue that this would allow more people who don't care about or just don't know enough about politics to vote. However, if those people weren't making the effort to come in on a Tuesday or to early voting, then they would not bother coming in on the weekend. In all, voting needs to be more flexible to our new society standards and should be moved to the weekend in order to generate a larger voting turnout.
Personally, I think that since it's against the law to not allow someone off to go vote during the day on Tuesday, then why move it? Honestly, most families I know would actually have less time to go on the weekend than on Tuesday. From the time my family wakes up in the morning until dinner time, sometimes even later, we are constantly busy. Whether it be for my brother's soccer games or just the multitude of errands we have to run, there would be no time. So, if there it is not a huge problem, why change it? There are bigger problems to worry about other than what day of the week voting takes place. People who say they can't get off work to vote are just making excuses, their employers have to let them off, so they just don't go because it's inconveinent. No matter what day voting takes place on, it'll be inconveinent for someone.
ReplyDeleteI think that moving election day from Tuesday to the weekend would be a good idea. It would give everyone a fairer chance of getting to the polls. It makes sense that a lot of people can't make it on Tuesdays because of work and being too busy during the week. Moving election day to the weekend would make voting more democratic because it would give more people an equal chance to exercise their right to vote.
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't think moving the election date to the weekend would make voting less democratic. People are just wanting to move election dates to the weekend which is fitting for a changing society. America isn't an agrarian society anymore, America is industrialized, and moving election dates to the weekend doesn't harm anyone.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I agree with Ornstein on the Wal-Mart approach of voting. Moving voting sites to places where people go almost everyday would be more convenient and more people would vote.
Sure. Move voting to the weekend. If the only argument as to why it shouldn't be done is the fact that voting on Tuesday marks tradition, go ahead. Ornstein's proposal, 24 hour period from noon Saturday to Sunday, seems like a legitimate solution. This shift seems to be more of an appeasement for the public, as opposed to a push for drastic change. The chances that this shift will favor a particular party are slim to none.
ReplyDeleteI think that voting should definitely be moved to Saturday. There is a good amount of people in this country that will simply over look the importance of voting if they have obstacles such as getting to work, going to little Johnny's soccer game and or watching American Idol. Switching voting to Saturday would easily open the opportunity for many people who commute throughout the weekdays to be able to vote without having the stress of a schedule weighing down on them. Moving it to Saturday would also make the voting process more marketable and relatable to people who watch t.v during the week. Ads played during programming could easily attract people to a "Voting Satuday". The election day itself could be marketed as a "Bring your whole family! Activities! Picnic! Free Food!" type of event. I honestly think this move needs to be made in order for more voter participation. After all, people need to exert their right to vote. Not all citizens on this earth have that right.
ReplyDeleteAs discussed in class, the general election day being on Tuesday was a policy set in place many years ago to allow farmers and rural citizens in America the chance to vote. However now, having it on Tuesday only lowers the voter turnout. Changing the general election day to the weekend would allow for more people to vote and, in that sense, make the process more democratic.
ReplyDeleteWithout seeing actual results, it's difficult to actually decide whether or not general election day should be moved from Tuesday to the weekend. Although there is early voting available, the final days of campaign could be vital in a citizen's decision in the voting process due to all of the information that comes along with that time period. Many say that their jobs and schedules interfere with their abilities to vote on Tuesday, but would they actually take the time to vote if they did have the option of voting on the weekend instead? For some people, the decision to not vote is just because of the general decline in civic engagement. If moving voting to the weekend actually gets citizens to participate in voting, then yes, it would make voting more democratic. It would give people who usually don't have the chance to vote on Tuesday to finally have a say in what they believe and more political equality. Voter turnout is at a low in the U.S. and I believe that anything that will make our citizens more politically active would be a positive change. As stated in "Why Tuesday?", young voters, African-American voters, and working parents favor weekend voting, so maybe voter turnout will increase if the changes are made.
ReplyDeleteI think that general election day should be moved to the weekend. It makes voting more democratic because, according to the "Why Tuesday?" article, 45% of Americans would favor moving elections to the weekend. And if that many Americans want to have elections moved, than they should. Also, most Americans are middle class, which means they have a 9 to 5 job during weekdays. It is physically hard for a person who has been working hard all day to get the strength to stand in line for however many hours,just to cast a vote. This problem would be solved if voting was moved to Saturday, a day that most workers have off. Therefore, they would actually have time to go to the polls.
ReplyDeleteWhy Tuesday? Conflicts that comes up with polling on Tuesday is the availability of everyone to vote. Many people have other commitments like work or school. It creates more frustration and less participation for American citizens to vote. Moving election day from Tuesday to the weekend is a good idea, giving many potential voters the chance to give their own individual input. This act would very much make voting more democratic because it is for the better and convenience of others.
ReplyDeleteYes, it should be moved to the weekend. Back in 1845, when this date was set as the first Tesday after the first Monday of November, it was to accomodate with the agarian schedules. Well, times have changed and we must adapt to it. A majority of Americans nowadays work a tight schedule Monday to Friday, giving them freetime only on the weekend or before or after work. This only means a longer line for people that can only vote before or after work. It would be fine if by law everyone was alotted a certain amount of time throughout day to go vote than voting on Tuesday wouldn't be much of an inconvience. I just turn 18, which means I am legal to vote and due to schools, the weekends would definitely accomodate to my schedule a lot better. By moving the election day to Friday, I believe it would increase the election turn out in our nation and more votes means more democracy. Our countru is based on a representative government through democracy and the more we vote the more we can be rightfully represented.
ReplyDeleteBecause people cannot be forced to vote as in countries like Australia and Italy, voting should make a move to the weekend. The placement right now, as referenced in the article, is suited best to those who stand by an "agrarian schedule." Since voting is considered a democratic duty, the citizens of the US should be given ample time to complete their ballots. The weekend seems to present the best opportunity for widespread democracy. And according to Goeas and Lake, 45 percent of Americans would favor this push to the weekend. So this extension would easily be favorable to many people and should be seriously considered.
ReplyDeleteI certainly don't see a problem with moving the general election day to a Saturday. If the government wants more voter turnout, then this may very well be the solution they're looking for. I'm sure that some people may not be able to make it to the polls on Saturday either, but due to the fact that it would eliminate the conflict with the 5-day work week, it seems like more people would be able to make it on Saturday than on Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteAs for whether or not it would make it more democratic, I would have to say no. Voting is a democratic process in itself. The election day is not held on Tuesday to exclude certain people from voting. Therefore, the government has no hand in who ends up voting and who doesn't; it's completely up to the individual as to whether or not they can make it. Democratic is not a relative term. Just because some people can't vote due to their own inconveniences does not mean that the process becomes any less democratic or any less honest and true to that concept. Not to mention the fact that the electoral college prevents elections from being a true democratic process anyway.
I belive it should either be moved to the weekend or voting Tuesday should be made a holiday. The only problem I see with it being made a holiday is, some people would just take advantage o the extra day off and just stay at home and not take advantage of the day off to VOTE. This could also be a good thing because only the people who really care will get out and vote which probably would make the presidential election a little more fair because people would vote because of the type of president the would be and how well they would lead this country other than how good he looks or how well he speaks.
ReplyDeleteMoving it to the weekend would probably be the best option in my opinion because a lot of people are off they are out and about and would probably go ahead and find a place to vote, since they are already out. I believe there would be a much greater turnout for the number of voters. No it wouldn't be more demacratic because there are registered republican voters who may work during the week and can't go vote so I don't believe it would make it more democratic.
In my oppinion, people don't have the time to vote on Tuesday. During the weekdays people are busy with work, family and other activities. If we were to change the voting day to a weekend, people will be willing to go and vote peacefully and not in between breaks at work. As it is now people rush to vote before or after work, or on lunch breaks. Saturday is a day of leisure anyway and it would be much easier for most to get to the polls on that day.
ReplyDeleteElection day should most definitely be moved to the weekend -- Tuesday may have made more sense in the 1800s, but it is now nothing more than an arbitrary day for voting which limits who can vote, and therefore limits the reach of our democracy.
ReplyDelete