Election Day is the annual day set by law for the general elections of federal public officials. It is statutorily set by the Federal Government as the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November. For federal offices and most gubernatorial offices, Election Day occurs only in even-numbered years. The fact that Election Day falls on a Tuesday has become controversial in recent decades.
About Election Day (United States) in brief
In the United States, Election Day is the annual day set by law for the general elections of federal public officials. It is statutorily set by the Federal Government as the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November. For federal offices and most gubernatorial offices, Election Day occurs only in even-numbered years. The fact that Election Day falls on a Tuesday has become controversial in recent decades, as many people might be unable to vote because of their job. A federal holiday called Democracy Day, to coincide with Election Day, has been proposed, and some have proposed moving election day to the weekend. Some employers allow employees to begin later or leave their workplace on Election Day to allow them the opportunity to vote. The United Auto Workers union has negotiated making Election Day a holiday for workers of domestic auto manufacturers. In January 2019, Ohio became the first city in the country to make Election Day a paid holiday for employees by eliminating the city’s paid holiday on April 12, 2020.
Some states require that workers be permitted to take time off with pay. Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, West Virginia, as well as the territory of the Northern Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico have declared Election Day as a civic holiday. The Twentieth Amendment, passed in 1933, changed the beginning and end date for the terms of the President, Vice President, Congressmen, and Senators. It did not affect the timing of Election Day. The first Tuesday after November 2 to November 8 is the date set by Congress to harmonize current electoral practice with the existing 34-day window in federal law, as the span between Election Day and the first Wednesday in December is always 29 days.
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This page is based on the article Election Day (United States) published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 04, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.