Why do we vote on Tuesday?

[nebula]

Run time: 01:26 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9vaB2isKB0   Posted on YouTube: February 03, 2008 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: February 24, 2008 By DU Member: nebula Views on DU: 588

 
VENICE BEACH, CA - We vote on Tuesday, a day smack in the middle of the work week. So Jacob Soboroff of Why Tuesday? hit the streets to find out what would happen if we moved the Super Bowl to Tuesday.

Might have less to do with 'voter apathy,' more to do with not being able to do it at such an inconvenient time (Tuesday). And why is it limited to just one day? Many working people simply can't afford to take the time off. Of course, if you're a rich Republican, taking a day off to vote is no problem for you.

[bbinacan]

1. Why we vote on Tuesday

From Wikipedia

"As for the day of the week chosen, Sunday was ruled out because it was the Sabbath. An election on Monday might require travel on Sunday, and so was also ruled out. Tuesday had no problem."

edit for spelling

[pinto]

3. Yeah, and iirc, Town Meetings are on a Tuesday...plus

I Hate Mondays.

:P

Vote folks, Vote!

[nebula]

5. That might have been a valid reason a 100 years ago.

But not in the 21st century.

There are hundreds of customs that are no longer practiced because they have been obsolete for centuries. For instance, the custom against working on the Sabbath hasn't been observed anywhere in America in about a hundred years or more, except perhaps by the Amish. Even the most hardcore Christian fundies I know personally have all been known to work on Sundays.

And it doesn't explain why only one day a week, why not Tuesday-Friday, or Fri-Sun? It seems to me like a way to keep disfranchising as many voters as possible. Since obviously, the longer polls are kept open, the more traffic you will get to the ballot box. It's ludicrous to keep such an obsolete tradition alive at the expense of the public's access and participation in the election process.

[bbinacan]

6. What you said is

not exactly correct. As recently as 15-20 years ago Belk was closed on Sundays.

[nebula]

7. Saturday

So what's the excuse for not holding the election on Saturday,
when it would be most convenient for working voters?

[cynthia]

13. Saturday IS the Sabbath for the Jews

So observing the Sabbath rules out both Saturday and Sunday.

I like the idea of keeping the polls open for several days. That and paper ballots counted by hand is the way to go.

[nebula]

14. Link?

Is that an official reason, or did you make it up?

So it's ok for millions of businesses to break the Sabbath Laws every weekend, but not for voters to?

btw, since when has the US been ruled by religious doctrine? Might as well burn up the Constitution, if that's the case.

[nebula]

15. Let's try one more time

Since when has the US been governed by Jewish and Christian law?

And all this time, I thought we were supposed to be going by the Constitution. Oh, silly me!

[cynthia]

16. I didn't say I agree with it

I think the whole business of laws closing stuff on "the Sabbath" is baloney. I totally agree that voting on Tuesday is crazy and wish they would change it. I agree that this nation was not founded on "Christian principles" which seems to be a popular thing to say from those on the right . All you have to do is read a bit of history and it is abundantly clear that our founding fathers were totally against bowing down to any one religion.

I was just pointing out that Saturday is considered the Sabbath by the Jews. I live near a huge community of Jews - many of whom hire non-Jews to work the Saturday shifts so that they can keep their business open (makes good business sense) but they don't have to work on their Sabbath.

I was never aware of this when I was growing up, since there were few Jews in that community.

[pinto]

2. Kick

:kick:

[gateley]

4. Biden was asked this question by the Why Tuesday folks when he was still

in the running.

He said in Delaware they'd tried having elections on the weekends - fewer people came.

When asked by the WT guy if he thought election day should be a holiday, Biden said he thinks it might be the same thing -- people packing up and heading out of town.

I BELIEVE in WA State that all ballots are mail-in now -- is that correct? Why can't that be done across the country. Or, like our Democrats Abroad friends, why can't the voting be done over the internet?

Provisions would have to be made for those who don't have internet access, or a permanent address, but on the whole, I think there are some easy steps to get a higher voter turnout.

NOTE: I just saw that here in NC they are going to allow early voting due to a projected bigger-than-usual turnout.

[nebula]

8. Fewer people came on the weekend?

That's hard to believe.

Either he's lying or people were simply not told about the change.

[gateley]

9. I doubt Biden was "lying" - what would be the motivation for that?

I AM impressed, though, that you know it was either/or. You must live in Delaware - am I right?

[nebula]

10. Motivation for lying

because he's a DLCer who benefits from the current system?

[gateley]

11. Nope. He's not a DLCer.

And he's benefitted SO MUCH from the current system that he's the second "poorest" (I know it's relative) member of the Senate because when he was first elected, he made a conscious decision NOT to invest in the stock market lest his holdings affect his votes. That's workin' it, Biden! :eyes:

And he himself has never met with a lobbyist.

Why don't you badmouth someone you KNOW something about. Just a suggestion. You might come across a little smarter.

[nebula]

12. I'm still not convinced

you still need to explain why turnout would be lower on the weekend than on a busy weekday.
Because it makes absolutely no sense. Biden might not be lying, but he is certainly mistaken, if in fact that is what he said.