Hmmm: Why Tuesday?

Ever wonder why we vote for President on the first Tuesday in November?

Saturday was for farming, Sunday was the Lord’s day, Monday was required for travel to the county seat where the polling places were, Tuesday you voted, Wednesday you returned home, and Thursday it was back to work. The explanation makes perfect sense...for someone living n 1845!

Today, it makes no sense at all. A non-profit group called Why Tuesday is aiming to change that by moving election day to the first Saturday and Sunday after the first Friday in November. A bill is currently pending in the House to make such a change but it's going to be a tough battle.

From a NYT editorial by a co-founder of Why Tuesday...

It’s a safe bet that today most Americans don’t follow the same schedule as our farming forefathers. In fact, for many, Tuesday is one of the most inconvenient days to hold an election. One in four people who didn’t vote in 2006 said that they were “too busy” or had “conflicting work or school schedules.”

Our current system penalizes single parents, people working two jobs, and those who have to choose between getting a paycheck and casting a ballot. Two weekend days of voting means those working families would have a greater chance of making it to the polls. It means easing the long lines during rush hour at the polling sites. It means more locations, more poll workers and more voters.

Seems pretty reasonable right?

Not to Republicans.

Why? Because numerically Democrats outnumber Republicans by a fairly substantial margin. Anything that leads to a higher voter turnout is bad news for the Republicans, thus the attempts to cast ACORN in a bad light and efforts by Republicans across the country to challenge voter registrations.

Moving Election Day to a weekend makes perfect sense and will lead to greater participation in our Democracy. Remember this the next time you hear a Republican talk about country first.