Some propose to make Election Day the same day as Veteran’s Day. According to Jill Lepore for Politico, “... moving Election Day to Veterans Day, November 11, would honor the sacrifices of veterans; it would remind Americans that voting is a national duty, an obligation both to one another and to the nation; and it would strengthen American democratic political culture, by way of new rituals and traditions.” Combining the two days would be more efficient for businesses, schools, and any public place, but is it the right thing to do? I argue that moving Election Day to the same day as Veteran’s Day is disrespecting veterans and what they have done for this country. In my opinion, it would cause more of a problem for the two days to be combined. People who are serving or have served in the military should be given their day of recognition without it being overshadowed by the chaos of voting.
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| Veterans |
A more reasonable solution would be to make Election Day a national holiday. This would allow most adults to not have to attend their job that day, allowing them to go out and vote without feeling like there's much of a time constraint. On the other hand, making Election Day a national holiday would affect schools and businesses who are already suffering from a lack of staff due to the holiday season. To me, this seems like a reasonable sacrifice considering the legitimacy of getting as many citizens to vote as possible.
Others propose that same-day registration would be a good way to encourage citizens to start voting. As stated by Virginia Kase for Politico, “It’s proven to boost voter participation and makes registration deadlines unnecessary. SDR is also a great fix for Election Day problems. For voters who move, find themselves purged, or turn up on Election Day and run into other issues, they can still participate with same-day registration.” Same-day registration would allow citizens who had unexpected events occur still be able to participate in elections. In my opinion, this sounds like a good start to encouraging citizens to vote. With an easier and more efficient process for registering, more people are likely to go out and vote.
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| Graph of US States with Same-Day Voter Registration |
Since 2016, a total of 21 states have enacted same-day registration for voters. Out of the 21 states, two states have not allowed for same-day registration to happen on election day for presidential candidates. If more states would enact SDR, I believe that the number of people voting in presidential and local elections would increase substantially. With an influx of new voters, statistically, there is diversity between people's votes. This would reflect more of the public's opinion, as a whole, to the election.
More policies for encouraging citizens to vote will not necessarily increase the number of voters, but same-day registration will make it easier for new voters to participate in an election when they were not completely prepared for it. In comparison to moving Election Day to Veteran’s Day, I see same-day registration as the best policy proposed currently to fix the participation of citizens in elections.
Works Cited
Inc. , 8 Nov. 2016 , www.businessinsider.com/
11-states-with-same-day-voter-registration-2016-11. Accessed 12 Nov. 2019.
Kase, Virginia. "Same-Day Voter Registration." Politico, Politico LLC , 2019 ,
www.politico.com/interactives/2019/how-to-fix-politics-in-america/participation/
same-day-voter-registration/. Accessed 12 Nov. 2019.
Lepore, Jill. "Move Voting to Veterans Day." Politico, Politico LLC , 2019,
www.politico.com/interactives/2019/how-to-fix-politics-in-america/participation/
move-elections-to-veterans-day/ . Accessed 12 Nov. 2019.
"Same Day Voter Registration." National Conference of State Legislatures,
National Conference of State Legislatures , 28 June 2019, www.ncsl.org/
research/elections-and-campaigns/same-day-registration.aspx. Accessed 14
Nov. 2019.
Veterans . KBIA , 28 Apr. 2014 , www.kbia.org/post/
new-shelter-proposed-combat-homelessness-among-veterans#stream/0. Accessed
12 Nov. 2019.
I really enjoyed reading your post! It was really interesting to read about and you had a lot of great information! I definitely agree with your stance and I think that there should be a separate day for veterans and another for voting.
ReplyDeleteI think your ideas about the problems of moving voting to Veteran's Day are well-explained. I wonder about your thoughts about why it's so important to get more people out to vote. Is there evidence that the date of voting, or it not being a national holiday, keeps a lot of people from voting?
ReplyDeleteI think it is important to get people to vote because they deserve to have their opinions be influential. The more diversity between people's opinions means the more that the public will be presented through general elections.
DeleteCurrently, elections in America are not national holidays. I often hear my parents make excuses about not voting because they have work or an important deadline. With a national holiday, people would have more time and more of an incentive to vote if they didn't have work.
I agree - I don't think that we should combine these days either, it would disrespect our veterans and take away the importance of veterans day.
ReplyDelete