election day poll [the Dalaverse]

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I'm just curious, you guys. This is one of my pet topics whenever I get into a discussion of voter turnout. You can see my answers in the poll. Fill it out anonymously, if you wish, and feel free to add/clarify answers in the comments.

[Poll #862160]

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There are 11 comments on this entry. (Reply.)

Here - Germany - we always vote on Sundays, and here that means, that schools and most businesses are closed.

Honestly reading about voting in the USA is very confusing with registering to vote etc. But if people work, how long goes the voting?

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Usually on any election day, there's a 12-hour window, with a few exceptions - like from 8 am to 8 pm.

In some places, like where I live, there's also early voting - which is usually a one- to two-week window where voters can go to one of a few polling places, before the election itself. Usually this early voting stops a few days before the actual election to give the election authorities time to assemble and count early ballots, so they're not stuck doing that along with the election day ballots.

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I don't believe election day should be a holiday; however, I do believe if one's job or commute doesn't allow for reasonable access to one's polling place, one's boss ought to be legally bound to offer the time to do this, even if it's unpaid - say, an hour, depending on commute and traffic - without penalty.

I don't think people vote primarily if it's easy - I think they vote because there's something they care about.

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Voter apathy is the number-one cause of people not going to the polls, but there are so many factors that contribute to it. My position on this is determined partly by reading about other countries with much higher voter turnout in which Election Day is a holiday, and partly by coming from a wealthy county to one with a lot of poverty. There are a lot of people here who can't afford to take time off of work to vote, and/or don't have transportation to the polls (public transportation down here is kind of shitty, though I believe some campus groups are running people around).

Would giving people the day off solve all our turnout problems? Unlikely, but it's a step in the right direction, instead of parroting the same old tired lines about civic responsibility. If voting matters so much, let's prove it.

...You caught in at an extra-political moment, I"m sorry...

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That's fine. I'm going off experience - been registered to vote for almost 20 years. What I've normally seen is if voting matters to someone, they'll move very hard to get to the polls, no matter what (witness the fundies who turn out against gay marriage and stem cell research, even those who work, and in such numbers that you know many of them have to be poor or lower middle class, at least).

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Also, I forgot to add: You talk about impoverished people not able to take time off to go vote. But look at Christmas, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, Labor Day, etc. - who are the very people who DO get stuck working those days (restaurants, gas stations, retail clerks, stockpeople), if not the poorest whom you're referring to?

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That's a completely valid point. The most I can say is that I'd advocate a Christmas-level closing, where most retail at least is closed. I don't know. I still feel that it's the statement as much as the practical application.

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I haven't taken the poll because I'm not American. But I don't think closing stuff down would help much - after all it doesn't take long to vote! It's political engagement that works.

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It's not so much that it takes a long time to vote (although it can, I've been told) -- it's that lots of people with little job security and/or two jobs can't take off work to go to the polls (or if, say, they wanted to take a sick day, could not afford to lose that day's wages). In rural areas more than cities, there's also the problem of getting transportation to the polls (which I forgot to put in the survey...) Both of these things are serious problems where I am right now, so they're weighing on my mind.

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My mom works for the state, and she gets a half day, I think--they all do, to vote.

Um, because I am a hoser: I don't vote in midterm elections, local elections, etc, because I don't really live here. Not my place, you know? I'm just passing through and it doesnt' seem right.

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I'm not going to bite you :) I wouldn't vote in St. Mary's County because I don't consider myself as living here (although my vote would actually count more here than it does in uber-liberal MoCo...)

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the Dalaverse

election day poll

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January