Democrate seek election holiday

[MelissaB]

Democrats seek election holiday

Conference hopes to increase turnout
June 3, 2005

BY STEWART M. POWELL
HEARST NEWSPAPERS


WASHINGTON -- Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean called Thursday for presidential election days to be designated national holidays or be moved to a weekend -- steps he said would boost voter participation.


Dean, joined by prospective 2008 presidential candidate John Edwards, urged changes in the nation's presidential election system in remarks to an audience of progressive activists at a "Take Back America" conference sponsored by the liberal Campaign for America's Future.


Dean, a physician and former five-term governor of Vermont, called for Congress either to make the first Tuesday of November a federal holiday in presidential election years or move Election Day from a workday to a weekend day to make it easier for voters to cast ballots.


Edwards called for broad election overhaul to increase voter participation, without calling specifically for a national holiday.


"While we're working on democracy over there" in Iraq, "we've got more work to do on democracy right here,' " said Edwards. The former one-term senator from North Carolina ran as the Democrats' vice presidential candidate last November.

More: http://www.freep.com/news/nw/holiday3e_20050603.htm


Also, see John Edward's speech here: http://www.dembloggers.com/main/2

The end of the speech on part 2 is where Edwards made these remarks.

[Raiden]

1. How can I possibly love Dean so much?

probably because he's brilliant

[demnan]

2. Making Election Day a Federal Holiday

will not help a lot of people much. They should also designate that no stores be open for "election sales" and what not. People should be granted paid leave to vote, whether they work for the federal government or not.

[oscar111]

3. WEEK to vote, was it australia?

some nation i heard of, lets folks vote any day over a period of seven days.

we should.

paper ballots hand counted ---

NO machines in sight.

Canada does it that way.