A Washington Post poll with respect to the United States 2014 Election showed that 28% on non-voting, voting eligible and registered adults cited being “too busy” as their reason for not voting (Clement).  It is an outrage that the country that so embodies democracy and freedom to the rest of the world does not implement these rights to their best ability.  An election is discounted if willing and able voters do not show up.  An election is discounted if reasonable steps are not taken to provide accessibility to rightful voters.  Election Day in the United States should be a national holiday because it would improve voter turnout, elect according to a more accurate representation of citizens, and match democratic abilities given to other nations.

Foremost, voting is a rare right associated with the United States and world freedom, and to have this right inhibited from being fully exercised is unacceptable.  Voter turnout in the country which has symbolized successful democracy for centuries should be equally as historic.  The turnout of the 2008 presidential election in which Barack Obama defeated John McCain included only 62% of eligible voters, stunningly the highest turnout in this country since Richard Nixon’s 1968 victory  (“Voter”).  The nation has averaged only about 60% turnout in its voter history, a number that pales in comparison to our northern neighbor Canada (which received a voter turnout of 64.7% in 2006), Norway (whose voter turnout of 76.1% in 2005 alarmed reporters as a low number), and US-owned Puerto Rico (which gets a day off for elections and received 82% turnout for local elections in 2000) (Cheng).  The United States’ 2000 election received only 51.3% voter turnout, and polls given to non-voters report that over 20% did not vote because of a scheduling conflict or inconvenience (Cheng). Voter turnout has been an issue attracting significant attention over the last few decades in a charge led by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, whose website says of the issue, “Election Day should be a national holiday so that everyone has the time and opportunity to vote,” regarding a 2014 bill proposed by him (“Senator”).  The United States should strive to increase voter turnout for elections, and making Election Day a holiday would be a tremendous step towards this.

In addition, a democracy is only successful when it accurately represents the ideology of its constituents.  For centuries the United States has suffered through internal conflicts to provide citizens with equal voting rights and opportunities.  Is it fair to take the right of voting from someone simply for an uncontrollable circumstance?  This government had to pass two constitutional amendments to guarantee voting rights could not be taken away.  The 15th Amendment disallows voting discrimination based on race, as the 19th Amendment disallows such discrimination due to gender (“Constitution”).  Are we to have fought for these rights in our history and not take full advantage of them?  Former President Lyndon B. Johnson said it best as he promoted African American voting rights in 1965: “They came in darkness and they came in chains, and today we strike away the last major shackle of those fierce and ancient bonds” (“Analysis”).  The struggle for equal voting rights continues today, where efforts such as bilingual ballots for Chinese-Americans in New York City are successes, but hard-working Americans who are too busy to leave work on an Election Day have their rights restricted.  Further, voter suppression remains an important issue in American elections, just as it has been for centuries.  If voters of certain demographics are restricted from voting or restricted from an easily accessible path for voting, the result is an inaccurate representation of American beliefs.  For example, the KKK famously suppressed African-American voter turnout in Oklahoma City by threatening them with notes and violence (Harrison).  In regards to oppressing specific demographics, how is the inaccessibility of voting any different?  The struggle for equal representation and voting availability to all demographics to accurately pursue American beliefs should not continue, and making Election Day a national holiday is a simple way to successfully eradicate this issue.

Finally, the United States sets an important precedent in world democracy; therefore, its complacency in improving the election process is intolerable.  A nation that has founded its principles in democracy and set an example for others should be exemplary in all phases.  Requiring voting in the United States should not be out of the question, but a simpler, less authoritarian stance could be taken in making Election Day a holiday.  Australia, Belgium, and Chile all require their citizens to vote and give them a window to do so free of consequence.  All three of these nations experience voter turnouts of over 90% (“Voter”).  As our own President Barack Obama has said, “We are the only advanced democracy that makes it difficult for people to vote.”  The United States, an international beacon of democratic hope, does not fully live up to its expectations regarding elections.  The United States is the Wizard of Oz of democracy when it provides an appearance that is itself full of faults if looked upon intensely.  Complacency in our core gubernatorial belief as a nation is wholly unacceptable.  Change must be made so that the United States does not just mirror democratic nations, but bests them.  Change must be made so that the United States does not just speak of freedom, but entirely provides it.

Despite an abundance of holidays given by the government, Election Day must necessarily be on that list.  While an American citizen may be hard-pressed to complain of their number of holidays, it is true that more than a requisite number of holidays exist.  However, a holiday such as Columbus day is less necessary for Americans than an Election Day holiday would be.  After all, Christopher Columbus was not the first person nor European to discover North America; however, he was the first person to bring disease and European weapons capable of thorough destruction to the continent (“Holiday”).  Is this country to celebrate a man who brought immense discord to the continent rather than a day of freedom?  Regardless, beliefs that Election Day should be a holiday are easier to find than beliefs that Americans experience too many holidays.  Bernie Sanders’ 2014 bill suggested that it would be beneficial to Americans to make Election Day a holiday because it would not only improve voter turnout, but also “return Election Day to a ritual procedure,” which would further the democratic pride felt by the ability to vote freely (“Senator”).  Other movements supporting a national holiday for Election Day have existed as well, including the Count Every Vote Act of 2005, which sought to combine Election Day and Veteran’s Day, two days that fall near one another in early November, into one holiday.  This bill failed to pass Congress, but was endorsed by former Secretaries of State John Kerry and Hillary Clinton (Cheng).  Hence, the issue of an unnecessary additional holiday is inconsequential because of the plethora of previously suggested solutions.
Therefore, Election Day becoming a national holiday is a reasonable and practical solution to issues regarding American democracy.  Voter turnout in the United States has never been what it should be, but such action as making a holiday could remedy an issue that has plagued this nation’s history.  Also within American history is the inability of the nation to provide proper representation for its constituents, either through voter historical voter suppression or modern inconvenience.  After a history of improving voter rights, to continue to disallow votes based on uncontrollable circumstances is an abomination.  Furthermore, the United States struggles to compete in voter turnout with foreign nations that once viewed American democracy as the model for success.  If this nation is to be viewed by others in the light of democracy, that light should shine to uphold it as brightly as it once did when establishing it.  Granted, this nation does already experience an adequate quantity of holidays.  However, its contrast in meaning with such holidays as Columbus Day and past efforts to resolve the issue, such as Bernie Sanders’s 2014 bill and the 2005 Count Every Vote Act, invalidate this argument.  Change needs to be made to help our American democracy and making Election Day a national holiday is a crucial first step.  Contact your local government officials by going tell them what you believe is right for American democracy.

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