On Election Day, Voters Wonder if it Wouldn’t Be Better if America Devoted a Day to Democracy

The federal government currently recognizes 11 holidays that are designated days off. However, Election Day is not one of them. Experts say the lack of recognition can limit registered voters’ ability to participate in the elections and fulfill their civic duty.

On Nov. 5, Derrick McClendon arrived at the Pompey Park Recreation Center in Delray Beach to vote in the general election. He was still wearing his yellow safety vest after finishing his 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift as a maintenance mechanic for the City of Boynton Beach.

McClendon explained that his government job was lenient, allowing employees to leave work early to vote. However, he wasn’t initially planning to go to the polls until the last minute, after his shift ended. “My momma made me,” he joked, adding that he only decided to vote after she encouraged him to exercise his right to vote.

“You might actually have a line,” said McClendon, suggesting that if Election Day were a holiday, it might help increase voter turnout at polling stations. He noticed no line at the polling place when he arrived.

At the same polling station, Nathaniel Parker was on the clock, working remotely for Mango Publishing, a book publishing company. His employer encourages employees to vote and has a “relaxed” policy that allows them to take time off during work hours.

Parker shared why he believes Election Day should be designated as a federal or state holiday.

“So I’ve always thought it’s more meaningful to come out to vote on Election Day because, you know, it’s a tradition that’s lasted hundreds of years, and I just feel like my votes are safer like I get to physically vote,” said Parker, explaining that he prefers to see his vote counted in person rather than using a mail-in ballot.

Given that Election Day is one of the biggest events in American civic life, Parker expressed confusion over why the government doesn’t ensure everyone has the time and opportunity to vote.

“Some people don't have the chance to leave their jobs and stuff like I got the opportunity to go whenever I want to,” he said. “So I think if they wanna be more considerate about the Americans' values, they would make it easier for them to do it.”

A February poll from Pew Research Center indicates that 72% of Americans support making Election Day a holiday. Experts see benefits such as an increased voter turnout, but also raise concerns about potential economic implications.

Brian Hinkle, a senior voting policy researcher at the Movement Advancement Project, an independent, nonprofit think tank based in Boulder, Colorado, said that no hurdles prevent Congress from passing legislation to make Election Day a holiday.

“There has been legislation introduced at multiple points to make Election Day a federal holiday, but it just failed to advance through the legislative process,” said Hinkle. 

As the federal government has yet to act, he noted that 14 states have stepped up and marked the day as a state holiday, according to his research. However, Florida is not one of them.

To Hinkle, effective implementation of this policy would mandate employers to provide paid time off (PTO) to vote, as populations such as minimum wage workers and college students face unpredictable schedules that can impose a “barrier” to reaching the polls.

He added that 22 states currently require employers to issue PTO for voting, but again, Florida remains outside that listing.

Hypothetically, if Election Day became a state holiday in Florida, Hinkle pointed out, paid time off provisions would only apply to full-time government employees. In other words, this labor law would not require private employers to give their employees compensation or a day off. Although they could choose to offer it as a way to foster civic engagement.

“There can also be a cost associated with adding holiday, whether at the federal level with the millions of federal workers or within a state,” Hinkle said. “It could also impact people like parents with children who would normally be in school, or even people who rely on public transportation, which may be lessened on a holiday.”

A national day off to vote has some potential cons, however.

The main reason Election Day is not a holiday is financial, said Karen Leader, voter education advocate and Associate Professor of Art History at Florida Atlantic University. She explained that the potential economic strain of making another federal holiday means the government would have to grant all federal workers a paid day off. This would mean more money out of pocket for them.

She clarified that, in addition to federal offices closing for these holidays, universities typically close, and businesses usually either close or pay workers overtime, which would, again, add extra labor expenses.

Dr. Kevin Wagner, a Professor of Political Science at Florida Atlantic, said the argument against making Election Day a holiday is that people might treat the day off as a vacation rather than an opportunity to vote.

“The people that are engaged in the election and are motivated to vote generally tend to find a way to do so,” Wagner said. “But anything that we can do to facilitate making it easier for people to vote generally does help increase turnout.”

The advantage is that registered voters don’t have to decide between work and voting, he added.

A prime example is Lisa Peyreau, who voted early for this year’s general election on Oct. 31 at the West Boynton Branch Library. She went straight to the polling station in her blue HCA Healthcare work uniform after her 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. shift.

She noted that if she had to wait to vote on Election Day, she would have to use her PTO to cover the time she missed from work.

“I think it's a disadvantage, definitely, to the working class, and it should be deemed a federal holiday that way, everybody could get out and vote,” Peyreau said. “Because there are some people who just can't leave their work, can't afford, you know, to come and do this, or they have children at home.” 

Last election cycle, she dropped off her mail-in ballot at the same polling station in her precinct. She believes that voting opportunities outside of Election Day also help the working class by allowing people to avoid taking time off from work.

Hinkle speaks on the importance of early voting, absentee voting and voting-by-mail, as these methods increase voter participation. He said they can help reduce barriers for those who cannot afford to take time off or whose employers do not support voting.

Leader said these vote-by-mail options are particularly important for those deployed abroad. She shared her belief that election day should be a traditional celebration, highlighting that voting is not just a responsibility and privilege of citizens but should also be a source of joy and pride.

“But I think the idea of having one day that is acknowledged as celebrating democracy would be a great way to get us back to the idea that what we've managed to keep going all these centuries is really quite remarkable,” Leader said.

​​Imagine if people across the U.S. woke up on Election Day, which typically falls on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, and celebrated it as “American Democracy Day,” said Leader. She emphasized that making this a celebration would encourage more citizens to exercise their right to vote.

“For God's sake, I would exchange Columbus Day for a voting holiday in a heartbeat, just to revise our nation’s priorities and put voting as being more important than Christopher Columbus, who was a horrible person,” she said.