From Bayside Patch:Three elected officials representing northeast Queens at the state and federal level are calling for Election Day to be moved from a Tuesday to a weekend.
U.S. Rep. Steve Israel, D-Great Neck, has joined state Sen. Tony Avella, D-Bayside, and state Assemblyman Edward Braunstein, D-Bayside, in calling for Election Day from the first Tuesday to the weekend after the first Friday in November.
Israel said moving the day would make it more convenient for voters and increase voter turnout.
“Many eligible voters won’t exercise their right to vote due to the inconvenience of Election Day falling on a Tuesday,” Israel said. “Our democracy will be best served when our leaders are elected by as many Americans as possible.”
Congress initially decided in 1845 that voting on a Tuesday made sense because it made it easier for farmers to get to the polls.
The Weekend Voting Act would allow for national polls to be open from 10 a.m. (Eastern time) on a Saturday to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
10 comments:
I apologize for initially writing Saturday in the headline. The proposal is for Saturday and Sunday.
Not gonna happen: no one will mess with the Jewish vote (Saturday) and Sunday is a problem for others (isn't it a day of rest, too?).
Hey, no way I'm voting on the weekend. I have my weekend home to go to .
Suckers.
Hey Glendale ,how are the Kardasians doing.
You should have voted.
That day should then be a mandated holiday, period.
Advocacy of voter fraud in the name of convenience is boundless. This won't stop until one can vote anonymously over the internet or by phone without any id, at any time, from the day after the prior election to 9pm on election day.
Holiday??? That cost $$$$
There are too many already.
Honestly, I don't think even the percentages of the votes cast would change significantly in week long voting, much less the outcome. At even 10% of the population is probably well within the sampling needed for a very high confidence interval of what the whole voting population would show.
The problem isn't the day or times to vote. The problem is that people would rather vote for American Idol than for who is running their government.
Early voting, not weekend voting, is the way to go.
If it was decided in 1845, it can be changed, it ain't holy.
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