In 2020, around two-thirds of eligible voters cast their ballots for the presidential election, the highest voter participation in an American election since 1900. Despite this, the U.S. ranked just 31st in the world in voter turnout for recent elections. Turnout was especially low among people of color, young people and lower-income citizens. In 2020, 47% of eligible voters aged 18-29 voted compared with 62% for the general electorate; 71% of eligible white voters cast their ballots while 63% of black people and 54% of Latinos did; and there was an 18% difference in turnout between people who make $30,000 and those who make more than $100,000.
The U.S.’s low voter turnout, especially for underprivileged minorities means that fewer people are represented in government, making elected officials less beholden to their constituents. Lawmakers have searched for solutions to this dilemma throughout the last decades. They have often landed on making election day a federal holiday.
In a 2020 poll, 51% of respondents supported Election Day becoming a national holiday. The idea even made it to the halls of Congress, when California Representative Anna Eshoo introduced a bill earlier this year to make election day a federal holiday. However, Congress never brought the bill to a vote.
In theory, an election day holiday would increase voter turnout, giving people the day off of work and granting them more free time to get to the polls. However, it would not play out that way in practice.
Several states, such as Wisconsin, Maryland, Indiana and West Virginia, have election day as a state holiday. According to a Princeton University research paper, these states had three percent higher voter turnout than states without a holiday. But, after taking a closer look, the researcher discovered that the increased turnout was almost entirely dependent on the demographic factors of those states. When accounting for factors such as wealth, race and citizenship status, turnout would have been the same whether or not those states had a holiday on election day.
Making election day a federal holiday would also widen the socioeconomic and racial voting gap. Instead, the US should pursue other, more helpful, alternatives to boost voter turnout.
A 2020 poll found that the most common reason for not voting was being unable to get time off work. The federal government cannot force private businesses to give workers the day off on federal holidays. This lack of compulsion greatly impacts people in blue-collar or low-income jobs because these workers are forced to work long or irregular hours even on holidays like Thanksgiving and New Year’s. This means an Election Day holiday would have no impact on voter turnout for the millions of Americans working in those fields. Workers in blue-collar industries are also more likely to be younger and people of color, two groups with lower turnout than average. If Election Day became a holiday, it wouldn’t do anything to help communities with the highest barriers to voting; it would do the opposite.
A federal holiday would also restrict access to the public transit that lower-income Americans use at higher rates. Some cities close or run less public transportation on federal holidays, making it much harder for those who rely on public transportation to get to their assigned polling site, while making it more difficult to do other daily activities that require public transportation.
While Montgomery County students get Election Day off of school, this practice is not the norm. If Election Day were to become a federal holiday, every school in the country would close on that day. People with higher incomes may be able to find a babysitter or a daycare program, but Americans who can’t afford child care wouldn’t have this ability. This change would heap even more pressure on those who cannot afford to take off work, further damaging turnout among low-income voters.
Making election day a holiday doesn’t increase turnout while burdening the less fortunate members of society, but lawmakers do have proven solutions they can enact. Eight states and D.C. have universal mail-in voting, where every registered voter automatically gets a ballot mailed to their house. Mail-in voters have a set amount of time — usually one or two months — to fill out and return the ballot in the mail or at a drop box. Mail-in voting has tangible effects on turnout— a study on the 2020 election found that universal vote-by-mail increased turnout by 5.6%.
Mail-in ballots have been a subject of controversy recently, especially after many Republicans, including President-elect Donald Trump, claimed mail-in voting caused massive voter fraud in the 2020 election. The controversy has made politicians and voters hesitant to adopt universal mail voting, despite the clear benefits. However, recent research proves that fear is almost entirely manufactured. Conservative think tank, The Heritage Foundation, found just 1,561 instances of voter fraud since 2012, the vast majority of which had nothing to do with mail-in voting. During that time, voters cast around 250 million mail ballots, translating to a 0.00006% fraud rate for mail-in votes.
Voting by mail also takes less time than voting in person, which is especially beneficial for those who cannot afford to wait for hours at in-person polling places.
Whitman students have taken the opportunity to vote by mail over the years and the idea is very appealing even for students who can’t vote yet.
Junior Gabri Eraso thinks that mail-in ballots make voting simple and easy.
“It’s like the opportunity to vote falls from the sky into their lap. They don’t have to do much work,” Eraso said.
Universal mail-in voting isn’t the only solution to low voter turnout. California law allows workers to take two hours of paid leave to vote. Access to early voting sites such as those offered across Montgomery County also increases voter turnout.
While voter turnout will never reach 100%, any increase is a huge step towards a healthier democracy. If the US wants higher turnout in federal elections, the government must pursue practical solutions instead of the false promises of an Election Day holiday.
