Is Election Day a National Holiday? These People Think It Should Be

A brewery in Patchogue, New York, launched a petition to change Election Day to a national holiday in 2018, and just recently, the petition surpassed 150,000 signatures on change.org.

Blue Point Brewery gave its employees the day off on Election Day in 2018 when it drafted the petition, but it wanted the effort to span the nation to increase voter turnout, which for some elections is less than 40 percent.

"We the people believe that voting is the heart and soul of democracy," Blue Point Brewery said in the petition said.

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.

As America evolved, Tuesday has shifted from becoming a day ideal for voting to a day that many Americans feel is inconvenient. Over the years, petitions to change the day have garnered an array of support. A petition in 2012 received only 2,064 signatures of its goal of 25,000. In January of 2021, Stand Against Prejudice launched a petition but received only 130 signatures.

"In the 2016 election, 14% of registered voters (2.7 million people) who did not vote cited being 'too busy' or having a conflict as their reason why," the Stand Against Prejudice petition said. "Putting the Election Day holiday on the weekend, or mandating that businesses provide paid leave for their workers for the day will likely increase voter turnout, which rested at 55.7% in 2016."

U.S. research group the Brookings Institution published an article in June of 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.

Blue Point Brewery's petition could solve both those issues by granting Americans the day off. The brewery is so committed to the initiative that it fabricated Voters' Day Off beer cans for supporters.

People cited various reasons for signing the Blue Point Brewery petition, such as that the change would give Americans time off to have election-related discussions.

"Get rid of Columbus Day," one signer wrote. "This is actually important."

Others said that early voting and absentee ballots were sufficient, and Americans should take advantage of those options if they couldn't vote in person on Election Day.

Newsweek reached out to Blue Point Brewery and experts at the Brookings Institution for comment.