Bill Maher Offers Solution to Voter Fraud Claims Amid 'Cold Civil War'

Bill Maher has offered a solution to voter fraud claims, as well as the delays in calling results—making Election Day a national holiday.

As Americans went to the polls on Tuesday for the midterm elections, Maher compared the voting process in the U.S. to that of Brazil, where Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva recently won the presidency after defeating incumbent Jair Bolsonaro.

Making an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! ahead of many of the midterm results being called, the comedian and political commentator noted how Brazil's "election was over in three hours, they had all the votes counted."

"Why is that?" asked host Jimmy Kimmel. "Why can't we figure that out? We figured so many other things out."

"I'm sure the people of Brazil are brilliant, wonderful people. They all have a great ass, I know that," Maher quipped. "But it's a little depressing to get our ass kicked by Brazil. I mean, like we can't figure out things that other people seem to figure out?"

Kimmel said that Americans "don't have the patience, and we're also so crazy that we assume something is afoot if we don't get the results immediately."

"We should make Election Day a national holiday, like many other countries do," said Maher, sparking applause from the studio audience.

"I think when the voting goes on for weeks and months, whatever it's going to do—even if it's days—it just sows doubt into people," Maher went on. "Because we don't trust each other anymore. We all hate each other.

"We're at each other's throats. We're in this cold civil war, kind of. So that would be a sensible solution, but this is America. Why even go down that road?"

In 1845, Congress determined that Election Day would fall on a Tuesday in November because in farming communities, Tuesday was the least busy day and the month made sense because the harvest was over but the winter cold had not set in yet.

With America evolving and the day becoming less convenient over the years, petitions to change the day have garnered little support. A petition in 2012 received only 2,064 signatures of its goal of 25,000. In January 2021, Stand Against Prejudice launched a petition but received only 130 signatures.

In 2018, Blue Point Brewery in Patchogue, New York, launched a petition regarding the matter on Change.org. The signature count recently crept over the 150,000 mark.

U.S. research group the Brookings Institution published an article in June 2021 advocating for the change, citing higher voter turnout in countries where Election Day is recognized as a holiday.

"For example, Australia typically has a turnout in the 90 percent or more range, and other nations such as Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Costa Rica and Mexico achieve very high turnout via universal voting and time off for voting," the article said.

Researchers said lawmakers might resist the change because Election Day falls so close to Veterans Day on November 11, so they proposed a solution.

"Instead, lawmakers could simply move nearby Veterans' Day to Election Day, emphasizing that voting is both a service to the country and a celebration of the rights and freedoms for which our servicemembers fight," the article said.

In the last midterm elections, in 2018, only 45 percent eligible voters in New York cast ballots. The national average was barely over 50 percent. Americans have long argued that getting to the polls and voting on Election Day is a hassle, and some are unable to leave work to vote. Early voting provides another avenue for Americans to cast their ballot, but opponents of early voting argue that it decreases overall turnout.