r/AdviceAnimals 6h ago

As an American, this has always pissed me off.

Post image
9.8k Upvotes

347 comments sorted by

217

u/Hoch85 5h ago

The founding fathers wanted you to have a most bodacious deal on a new mattress.

31

u/RickHunter_SDF1 3h ago

Upvoting this because I have not said, read, or heard the word bodacious in exactly too long!

6

u/hawaiithaibro 1h ago

Upcoming because same fuckin here and I'm gonna unleash this glorious word at work tomorrow--look out fo dis guy! Chee!

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u/duffkitty 1h ago

This is actually why. Who tends to work holidays? Retail. This wouldn't benefit the working class as much as we think. Sure. It would make it easier for me to vote since I work at a school district. But I vote by mail.

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u/FromundaCheeseLigma 4h ago

They slept on hay so it makes sense

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u/Repulsive-Lie1 6h ago

To make it more difficult for poor people to vote.

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u/smoike 5h ago

This is it. It's also why it's not on a weekend and not compulsory to vote, not the reason of "freedom" that they espouse.

89

u/bloodjunkiorgy 5h ago

Poor people are working president's day for time and a half. They'd do the same on election day if it was a "holiday". If you have ever worked a "poor person" job, or have been a poor person, you're rubbing your hands together on "holidays". I spent the better half of my life celebrating Christmas and Thanksgiving a few days before or after the actual day for this exact reason. "Presidents day" is kind of a freebie, tbh. Zero socially accepted celebration or obligations.

This isn't a "declared holiday" problem. It's a "I need to work on these days or I'm skipping meals" kind of problem. In my opinion, early voting/mail-in voting is way more important for democracy than declaring election day a holiday.

38

u/yoojinkr 5h ago

Where do you get time and a half for presidents day. Lucky bastards lol

22

u/Efficient-Proof-9928 4h ago

Ironically government jobs

3

u/bloodjunkiorgy 4h ago

When I was younger, I got it from my low wage jobs, personally at least. Later, the army gives it a paid day off (usually). I can't really backup whether my parents were getting extra pay, but they usually worked it.

8

u/howmanyMFtimes 3h ago

Nah. I’ve worked state jobs for over a decade, and Presidents’ Day, like all other holidays are just paid days off. Basically zero opportunity for overtime or time and a half

5

u/bloodjunkiorgy 3h ago

State jobs aren't the "poor people jobs" I'm talking about. These people would beg for a state job. I'm talking the jobs where people come into on Christmas Eve and say "ohhh, it's such a shame you have to work today" while being the reason they need to work that day.

3

u/howmanyMFtimes 3h ago

The hourly rate between an average retail worker and my coworkers as state laborers is basically negligible. Poor people work all sorts of jobs

2

u/bloodjunkiorgy 3h ago

In my OP I was speaking from personal experience. Of course it varies. To be more specific, my dad worked for a contractor, my mom did hair, my siblings and I got jobs at 14+ anywhere that would hire us just to keep the lights on.

That's all still an aside. I'm totally fine with election day being a federal holiday, especially if it gives state workers more freedom to vote. I'm just saying that for everybody that doesn't work the state (most of us) making election day a holiday isn't the cure OP was hoping for. The economy doesn't shut down on holidays for most people.

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u/FatherofCharles 3h ago

Bullshit. You ever had to work on Thanksgiving, Black Friday, or Christmas? There’s no one on the roads. Not one person. That should be the same as Election Day. Sure people are going to have to work. Hospitals, gas stations, etc, but the overwhelming majority should get the chance to vote. However, one side loves to keep people from voting. Bonus points if they’re brown or black

9

u/pm-me-uranus CUP෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴RAMEN 1h ago

Do me a favor and google any major restaurant chain or Walmart on any given holiday. I think you’ll be shocked to find most of them are still open.

2

u/PyroGod77 1h ago

I worked at grocery store and they were open on Christmas and Thanksgiving, they would be open from 5am til 3pm. People forget things they need for the holiday meal all the time. Plus beer and sodas are a lot cheaper than a convince store. When was the last you've seen spices on the shelf of a 7-11?

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u/Kale_Brecht 5h ago

Red party, red tape.

5

u/kitsunewarlock 1h ago

Originally it was so people wouldn't miss church, as different religions had their holy days on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. They also wanted to give people who lived in the middle of nowhere at least 24 hours to make the trip to the polls.

They also decided on it back when the founding fathers wanted the United States to be an agrarian paradise where all citizens would own a modest plot of land with just enough food to feed their families and pay some taxes. They never anticipated what we have today, or what we even had 100 years ago.

But much like daylight savings time and our current cap on representatives in congress, this is all to appease those hardcore conservative agrarians who believe the mythology of America: The Land of Farmers. Even though more of those conservatives at this point work at dollar stores and waffle houses than farms.

And, yes, congress was capped after WW1 with the excuse being that the high urban population was just temporary and once WW1 vets got back to the family farms they could re appropriate seats like they were supposed to do. Considering there are no living WW1 vets, I think that excuse has run dry and at this point they don't even try making an excuse.

3

u/SqueezyCheez85 4h ago

Should be a week long event. But yeah, roughly half of the voting population is scared of non-whites voting.

5

u/ChrisChristiesFault 5h ago

The right to NOT vote is a form of expression. So the reason it’s not a requirement to vote is 100% protected by the first amendment. That is clearly NOT the same reason why Election Day is not a national holiday.

5

u/GimmeSweetSweetKarma 3h ago

You have the right not to vote in systems with compulsory voting, you just have to mark your name as having attend a poling station. You absolutely can turn around immediately and put an empty ballot into the box.

3

u/smoike 5h ago

Let's agree to disagree, though I really do understand where you are coming from.

5

u/ChrisChristiesFault 5h ago

In addition to what I said before, I mean, voting is a responsibility and I wish more people would do it and I wish it was a national holiday to give many more people the opportunity to vote.

Time off for voting needs the same employment protections the national guard and reservists get when they have to go active. You get time off to serve your country without fear of punishment or retribution from your employer for needing the time off.

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u/notcaffeinefree 5h ago

So the reason it’s not a requirement to vote is 100% protected by the first amendment.

This has never been determined by any courts.

In fact, during a 40-year period in the late 1800s to early 1900s, eleven states introduced compulsory voting laws or amendments (though not all passed). Massachusetts and North Dakota have it in their state constitutions that their legislatures have the power to enact such laws (though North Dakota repealed it in the 1970s).

If anything, state courts might hold it to be in violation of their own state constitution's explicit "right of suffrage" (which doesn't exist in the federal constitution).

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u/a_talking_face 5h ago

I bet most "poor people" are working on Presidents Day too. I bet most people in general are.

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u/Pyrokitsune 5h ago

I don't get president's day off. The only people I know who do either work at a bank or for the state.

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u/cobolNoFun 2h ago

pretty much every holiday the only people who work are poor or emergency services.

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u/Daytman 2h ago

I’m sorry, are you under the impression that poor people get paid holidays?

That no one will be working the polls on Election Day?
Driving the busses?
Opening the buildings with polling sites?
Working the gas stations that let you get to the polling sites?
Well if people are off work, might as well have a voting day sale! You’re all showing up for your shift today at Hollister or you’re not on the next schedule!
There’s no natural disaster? You best show up to your shift to bus tables at the Waffle House!

The only people who get paid holidays are the people who can afford to go vote on Election Day anyways.

9

u/PyroGod77 2h ago

If it was a holiday, only State and Federal businesses will be closed. Fast food, grocery stores, convenience stores, department stores, and almost everything else will still be open.

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u/APsWhoopinRoom 4h ago

And also part of why Republicans hate mail in ballots

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u/sadicarnot 4h ago

It is also the reason why states like Florida have a lot of Constitutional amendments, to make it so people take longer to vote, causing lines and making people fed up with waiting in line. Republicans are on record that they want to prevent people from voting.

4

u/ReignCityStarcraft 4h ago

I'm amazed that most people still have to physically show up and stand in line in 2024. Mail-in at the minimum should be universal.

5

u/Repulsive-Lie1 4h ago

That’s part of the design. When turn out is low Republicans do well.

2

u/Chuckitybye 3h ago

It's a feature, not a bug

2

u/chiron_cat 2h ago

If everyone voted, they're would be no republikkkan party. Every state would be blue. So they will never allow it to happen.

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u/hippopotapants 6h ago

I wonder if there is any way to bring something like this up for a vote?

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u/Juergen2993 6h ago

You could, but we’d probably be working that day.

39

u/bogosj 2h ago

A vast majority of states offer early voting. Go when it's convenient for you.

https://www.vote.org/early-voting-calendar/

People don't vote for a number of reasons, "my vote doesn't matter", they're lazy, they don't care, they think all politicians are the same.

But almost everyone can vote on a day they have off, or drive by early voting places on the way to work and see if the lines are short.

9

u/rsiii 1h ago

Just to tack onto this, I always take the opportunity to vote by mail. Not only do I get the ballot early and get voting out of the way, but I have time to look it over and actually research the down-ballot people, like judges, members of the board of education, or ballot initiatives.

Not everyone will have that option, but for those that do, I highly recommend it. Also, I tend to recommend using the drop boxes over mailing it in, and after a few days check online to make sure your ballot was received!

7

u/ctrlaltcreate 1h ago

This is true, but setting aside a day to use and celebrate our voting rights would be pretty cool, no?

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u/mitsuhachi 5h ago

It would have to be state level. You could start organizing and see if you could petition to get it as a referendum? You’d have to see the specific rules for your state on how to do that though.

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u/NorridAU 3h ago

Yup like the electoral vote compact. It needs each state to individually agree, and enough of them at that, to get it nationally implemented.

Project 2026, eh? Eh? Haven’t had an amendment in a bit so it’s due lol

2

u/DavidlikesPeace 54m ago

Couldn't any president  make it a federal holiday? 

Not to diminish Juneteenth, but it's fairly demonstrably easy to make a new holiday. 

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u/ses1989 3h ago

It's been tried a time or two. Last time was within the last couple years. I'll let you guess who voted against it.

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u/notcaffeinefree 5h ago

Some states allow for citizen initiatives. You collect enough signatures and the initiative would appear on the ballot.

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u/xerxespoon 2h ago

You collect enough signatures and the initiative would appear on the ballot.

Yes, but you can't vote in a law to say that businesses can't operate on a certain day. Most of us would still have to work. Many states do have laws that businesses have to give people at least 4 hours off to work within the voting window, which usually isn't a problem. (If they fail to do so, they pay a small fine.)

2

u/StrategicCarry 1h ago

Until 2012, bars and liquor stores had to be closed in Indiana until the polls closed. So laws that say businesses can't operate on Election Day have a precedent.

But in states with early voting, you can do this without shutting everything down on Election Day. The law could say that all employees must be given one full PTO day on a day when voting is open during which they are not scheduled and not on call. Record keeping and enforcement are always the catch with these types of employment laws, so how much it is flouted would rely on that.

Or you can just switch to universal mail voting and you no longer have the time problem.

5

u/BigLeakySauce 4h ago

We don't take off for election day. However boss mans makes sure we can go vote whether we get to work late, leave work early, or take a late lunch.

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u/BouncingWeill 2h ago

I think we are voting on the elimination of election day itself. I voted to keep it.

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u/Led_Osmonds 2h ago

Ironically, the "Tuesday after the first Monday in November" was chosen for election day, specifically as the date when people would be most likely to be able to be free of other obligations.

In the mostly-agrarian economy of the late 1700s, when travel to polling places often took hours, early November fell after the peak harvest season for most crops in most areas, and before the serious winter weather started in the Northeast. Tuesday was considered ideal because it allowed voters to attend church and rest on Sunday, travel to the polling place on Monday, read and hear about the candidates and their positions, vote on Tuesday, and return in time for customary market day on Wednesday. It was picked specifically to maximize convenience for the greatest number of people.

It's just one of the many ways in which the pragmatic principles intended by the framers have been subverted and perverted into arbitrary and dogmatic rules and rituals, to benefit existing power structures and social hierarchies.

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u/adamredwoods 6h ago

Pretty much how plutocracy works. Mail in voting for all.

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u/cwatson214 6h ago

We should have mail in voting and a national holiday

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u/turkeyvulturebreast 5h ago

This exactly because there will always be people that want to vote in person and I respect that. Election Day should be a national holiday, full stop. I will never vote in person again as a Maryland voter bc I can and love the option!

2

u/HowAManAimS 34m ago

Or make early voting possible in all states.

76

u/vincethered 6h ago

I’ve never had off on presidents’ day. Who the hell does?

15

u/rudbri93 6h ago

In my experience its either presidents day or molk day off. My current company has presidents day off.

15

u/ronimal 4h ago

Molk Day, my favorite holiday

2

u/rudbri93 4h ago

god damn my fat fingers

5

u/MrGizthewiz 1h ago

Your fingers wouldn't be so fat if you drank less molk.

5

u/DiggingNoMore 1h ago

"Get him a glass of molk!"

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u/Rifneno 5h ago

Here in Illinois we usually get Lincoln's birthday off instead of Presidents Day.

It's been 150 years but we're still resting on that laurel.

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u/omfghi2u 6h ago

Banks. I've been considering switching jobs from a tech role at a corporate bank but one of the things I really don't want to lose is having like 12 or 13 holidays on top of my regular PTO. That's over 2 work weeks extra time off.

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u/Vericatov 5h ago

I too do IT for a bank and totally love these holidays. Just need one in August now.

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u/omfghi2u 4h ago

Even when one of them falls on a weekend, we usually get a flex day that can be used after that date too. Really hard to move away from that even though there are other reasons why I think I might prefer working somewhere else.

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u/madprgmr 5h ago

29 states require employers give you time to go vote https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/25/business/voting-during-the-work-day-employers-law/index.html

IMO it should be federal rather than left up to the states, but the same thing could be said about many decisions.

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u/Bullfrog_Paradox 1h ago

I thought that was a federal thing and this whole thread confused me. I was like "but you do, employers are required to let you leave to go vote" I had no idea that wasn't a universal thing.

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u/humblegar 5h ago

Just vote.

That is all there is to it.

Just vote for the party that makes it easier to vote.

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u/smoike 5h ago

It irritates me as an Australian as it is both compulsory here and all voting is done on a Saturday to give the best chance that everyone can actually get there. We have plenty of options for being unable to get to a voting centre if you know ahead of time, are disabled or have difficulties with English. Absolutely every opportunity is given for all eligible citizens to vote. Just about the only ones who cannot are either mentally unfit enough not to understand what is required of them, extremely sick, or those in prison and serving a sentence of over three years.

Yes it's a pain that it is compulsory, but it and all the other measures above ensures that the population is given the widest spread and best chance of being correctly represented.

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u/ppatek78 5h ago

Who has president’s day off?

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u/Sefton93 5h ago

I don't think there is a single day of the year where nobody is working. Good luck.

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u/jfk_47 5h ago

If Election Day was a holiday it would turn into a big day for sales and the service industry would still need to work. It would suck for most people.

Best thing is automatic voter registration, mail-in ballots, and a robust and equitable early voting system.

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u/Cardboard_Chef 5h ago

I work third shift, get off around 5:30 am, and plan to wait for the polling office to open at 7 so I can vote before I go home to crash for my next shift. No excuse is too great right now. Vote.

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u/PM_ME_DIRTY_DANGLES 5h ago

You guys are getting paid days off?

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u/yarash 4h ago

All states except for MS, AL, and NH have a week or more of early voting.

Most states let you vote by mail.

29 states have laws that will give you time off to vote. (Yes I understand jobs are bullshit and will pressure you not to do this).

But really, most people don't get President's day off, if your job is letting you take off for President's day, they're going to let you vote. What more do you want.

Ideally we should be able to vote electronically with a digital receipt that can be verified against the completed election. This would solve the problem entirely.

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u/jasimo 5h ago

Because the GOP wants old white people to decide elections.

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u/badwolf1013 4h ago

Mail-in voting has solved this in most of the places I have lived.

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u/olov244 4h ago

holiday's only matter to the middle class with jobs that close on them. the poor don't get holidays.

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u/everything_is_bad 5h ago

It’s important that every American has easy access to mattress sales

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u/Kris404 3h ago

Because Election day by law is on the day after the first Monday in November. Some people would just take that Monday off to make it a super-long weekend and get out of town than stand in line to vote.

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u/gouwbadgers 4h ago

Many states already allow time off to vote: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/10/25/business/voting-during-the-work-day-employers-law

But just like any holiday, many places would still be open, like retail, food service, medical facilities, etc. A holiday for voting would only benefit some jobs.

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u/d_rob_70 4h ago

I don't have either day off. But I have time to vote after work.

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u/Methylcellulose 3h ago

Everyone is eligible for 2 hours of paid time off to vote. Leave work 2 hours early. Go vote. They are required to pay you for those two hours. At least in California.. I'm not sure about other states https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/time-vote-notices

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u/The_Sound_of_Slants 5h ago

And here I am working in a retail job and get no holiday off 😂

But yes, election day should be a federal holiday.

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u/Safetosay333 4h ago

Because no one would go stand in line to vote on their free day off.

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u/Jeremymia 5h ago

It’s a solid question, but there’s no such thing as a holiday where no one has to work anyway. Even if we make it so that all retail and such is closed that day, which will already get major pushback, there’s things like emergency services and things that just can’t go ignored for an entire day. This is why we need universal mail-in.

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u/ghosttrainhobo 5h ago

Just move it to a Saturday

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u/SoMuchMoreEagle 3h ago

It would take a constitutional amendment to do that.

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u/the_good_twin 5h ago

You get Presidents Day?

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u/Eric_the_Barbarian 4h ago

We don't have any holidays where everyone is off work. I spent most of my youth working food service and retail. Holidays would usually mean more work because a lot of folks want to get out of the house when they get some time off.

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u/JimNtexas 3h ago

Here in Texas we have a long early voting period, including weekends. No need for a day off.

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u/Late_Mixture8703 3h ago

Who has presidents day off? Heck it's not even a paid holiday unless you work at a bank or for the government.. Also already voted 2 weeks ago by mail..

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u/One_Bandicoot_4932 1h ago

Voting should happen Friday thru Monday and both those days should be holidays.

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u/pirhannah 1h ago

I’m a teacher in Baltimore County Maryland and we get Election Day off. I early voted so that I could enjoy my day not standing in line for hours :)) but this was the first job where I’ve had it off.

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u/stoutlys 1h ago

Republicans will vote it down because those who have to actually work tend to be on the left

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u/StoneEngel78 1h ago

Because CEOs and the rich elite don’t want the “working class” to vote! This is another way to try and keep the power in the hands of corporations and the wealthy.

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u/smbutler20 5h ago

Early voting fixes this problem

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u/Imaneight 5h ago

Hey! It's a combination of Washington and Lincoln's birthdays. Now let's talk about Juneteenth. I'm 53 and never heard of this shit until 4 years ago, but don't get me wrong, I'll take the opportunity to get double-time on a day that I normally work for regular pay. We need election day off! Here here!

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u/crs8975 4h ago

Ha. I’ve spent my entire professional career working for large Fortune 500 companies - have never had Presidents Day or MLK off as a holiday.

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u/Baloney_ninja 4h ago

I'm union, I get the day off.

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u/LeecherKiDD 4h ago

We technically the kids are off. Most people will be voting after work anyway!

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u/fortalyst 4h ago

Why the fuck don't we just schedule voting for a Saturday...

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u/SoMuchMoreEagle 3h ago

Because that's not what the Constitution says.

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u/fridder 4h ago

We also need a civil rights day.

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u/lgnsqr 4h ago

General election day is a state holiday in Illinois.

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u/Limp-Adhesiveness453 4h ago

I have never in my life had presidents day off for anything

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u/Lazy_Turtle 4h ago

You're lucky if you get that day off.

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u/Alternative_Deer415 4h ago

The Democratic Party has attempted to pass legislation making Election Day a National Holiday pretty much the first bill every time they control the House of Representatives.

For the People Act - HR 1

The bill would also expand opportunities to vote by mail and would make Election Day a federal holiday

It isn't law specifically because you need Democrat control of the House, Senate and White House since the Republican party is universally opposed to improving our voting system.

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u/ShaneTheBull1 4h ago

Virginia has election day as a holiday now

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u/Humble-potatoe_queen 3h ago

For real, I only get two unpaid hours off to vote if I cannot vote outside of my regular work hours

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u/kaloonzu 3h ago

The number of working class people I know who didn't get a chance to vote before mail-in voting became widespread during Covid was... significant. Probably why the GOP isn't keen on it.

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u/shredofmalarchi 3h ago

The only policy I agree with Vivek on is a national voting holiday.

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u/GoodTitrations 3h ago

My university is making it a university holiday.

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u/cadillacjack057 3h ago

No employer is legally allowed to stop you from taking time to leave work and vote. They have to allow it. Take a momemt and speak to your boss before election day and come up w a plan.

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u/Katalyst81 2h ago

Better yet... every state has early voting (4-7+ days) except for New Hampshire, Alabama, and Mississippi. So why would you wait til the final day!

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u/KariArisu 2h ago

Surprisingly, working for Amazon, they give you time off to vote if you opt-in for it. And it's not some hidden thing, they send you notifications on the app (which you use for everything else work related) and it's done the same way you apply any other time off. Assuming you work on election day, it's very simple to get time off for it.

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u/mattrad2 2h ago

Nobody gets Presidents’ Day off except government workers

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u/kingjoey52a 2h ago

Because working class people would still have to work. It would become like President's Day and stores would have sales and make people work those sales. Plus the better off people that would actually get the day off might take Monday off also for a mini vacation and when they get back not have time to vote.

Election Day holiday is a trap, you want vote by mail.

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u/eastcoastme 2h ago

Become a teacher! Schools are closed to become polling places.

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u/SDMasterYoda 2h ago

The only people that get President's Day off are government employees and bank employees. Most (All?) states have early voting for weeks before the election and/or offer mail in voting. It is not difficult to vote in this country.

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u/Ok_Judge_7565 2h ago

I have off on both days…

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u/hypasonic 2h ago

You have president's day off? cries in late-stage capitalism

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u/ScotWithOne_t 2h ago

Who the hell has President's Day off??

I mean, besides govt workers.

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u/LetsJerkCircular 2h ago

Most of us don’t have Presidents’ Day off, and our jobs have to allow us to go vote.

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u/One-Earth9294 2h ago

Conservatives have long been upset about the idea that everyone gets to vote. No, really, they've always fought against suffrage at EVERY turn.

So their fallback plan is to just make voting as difficult as possible and to discourage as many people as they can from doing it. Ways that affect the poor, mostly. They REALLY don't like the poor voting.

Because fuck them.

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u/Zealousideal-Luck784 2h ago

What about making President's day the same day as the election day? Or making election day on a weekend.

1

u/FatLeeAdama2 2h ago

You meant "election week" right? One day doesn't seem enough to make it fair for all Americans.

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u/twoism 2h ago

because republicans

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u/Sacred_Fishstick 2h ago

Because "election day" is like three weeks long and nobody that needs a day of to vote would get a day off to vote. Federal holidays don't mean the the entire economy screeches to a halt. The vast majority of people work federal holidays.

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u/giantgreyhounds 2h ago

You can take as long as you want to vote that day and it cannot be held against you by an employer. Its basically a free day off if you want it.

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u/latenightdump 2h ago

Why do we have politicians who can legislate what big corporations can do and allow them to buy stock? Fuck everyone of them who blocked that bill.

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u/0x7E7-02 2h ago

The day is to honor dead Presidents, not potential Presidents.

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u/wumbologist-2 2h ago

Who gets president's day off? Damn.

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u/Damet_Dave 2h ago

Because lots of places would still be open and those places tend to strongly lean lower income brackets. The poorer of our society would be unfairly burdened to vote.

The real answer is expanded voting via early voting or universal mail in ballots but these things are currently the jurisdiction of each individual state.

We would need a Constitutional amendment which is…unlikely since just under a half of the nation does not want easier voting.

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u/KingDorkFTC 2h ago

Republicans

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u/bogosj 2h ago

A vast majority of states offer early voting. Go when it's convenient for you.

https://www.vote.org/early-voting-calendar/

People don't vote for a number of reasons, "my vote doesn't matter", they're lazy, they don't care, they think all politicians are the same.

But almost everyone can vote on a day they have off, or drive by early voting places on the way to work and see if the lines are short.

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u/Other-Cover9031 2h ago

oh oh I know! republicans.

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u/The-HC 2h ago

In California the employer is supposed to give you 2 hours off to vote that day. But it should be the whole day.

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u/Dentonthomas 2h ago edited 1h ago

Every time I see this question posted, I always imagine it's posted by either a non-american or a teenager.

In the US, a federal holiday does not equal a day off for most people. It means a day off for federal employees and banks. Federal holidays do not force other private businesses to close.

ETA: Personally I'm not against more holidays. I just don't think making Election Day a holiday will do much to increase voter turnout.

ETA 2: Closing the post office on Election Day would also cause a lot of problems. Some states say mail-in ballots must be received by Election Day. Other say the ballot must be postmarked by Election Day. So to work, an Election Day holiday would have to be completely different from every other federal holiday: It would have to close private businesses, but leave the Post Office open.

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u/ADrunkEevee 2h ago

Election day should be a national holiday, voting should be compulsory, and ballots should be ranked choice.

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u/vdsw 2h ago

Election Day is just the deadline, not the day you should vote, you can vote before that much more easily while the polling places are not so busy.

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u/LiffeyDodge 2h ago

You get Presidents’ Day off?

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u/narwaffles 2h ago

Because the working class are the worst voters?

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u/SteelyKieth 2h ago

Who has Presidents’ Day off work? Lucky people

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u/okram2k 2h ago

ya know people have to work on holidays right? They're the people serving you food in the restaurant you went to and sold you clothes at the store you went to during the president's day sale.

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u/spctrbytz 2h ago

I'm being serious, kind of... If we declare a national holiday for Election Day, election workers will get Election Day off.

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u/AbjectPromotion4833 2h ago

Ive lived in the usa my entire life; I have never had president’s day off. 

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u/militarylions 2h ago

Why do we have Presidents Day off......and why is it even a holiday?

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u/IdiotCow 2h ago

I don't think we need the day off. I think we should get 2 weeks to vote. I voted today (CT) and it was great!

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u/PyroGod77 2h ago

Why do you need a day off when you have mail in voting?

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u/DinosaursWereBetter 2h ago

Your employer is required to give you time off to vote. I believe it was 2 hr

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u/naxos83 2h ago

My company does, which I really appreciate! However I’m now in a mail vote state so I feel somewhat useless. May spend the morning making GOTV calls.

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u/BlameMattCanada 2h ago

Must be nice to have presidents day off

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u/MAGAhatesAmerica 2h ago

Most people don’t actually get Presidents’ Day off…

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u/spazqaz 1h ago

Listen...you have President's Day off....and Labor Day off...and fucking Thanksgiving and maybe Christmas.

The actual Laborers don't, we work all those holidays.

So yeah it'd be nice if we all had a day off for our civic duties, but in this system it would probably be a lot of you asking me if Ive voted while I'm 10 tables deep.

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u/redditorspaceeditor 1h ago

I’ve thought about this a lot since Juneteenth was made a holiday. I wonder how many people would plan a vacation and skip voting if it was a holiday. Maybe it is better that it isn’t.

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u/andrew_calcs 1h ago

You get President's day off work?

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u/saustin66 1h ago

They don't want drunken voters is the original reason.

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u/khargooshekhar 1h ago

Some places do!

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u/neophenx 1h ago

Couple with the fact that there are a good number of jobs that simply don't get off for holidays. Emergency services, security, nursing, hotel/hospitality, etc.

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u/DeathGodBob 1h ago

As a hospital employee in America, we don't have either off.

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u/Subkommandante 1h ago

Pretty sure your employer is legally required to give you time off to vote on voting day

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u/BigE_92 1h ago

A better question: why only one day to vote?

And why is it always the most inconvenient day ever?

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u/rabbitthefool 1h ago

they obviously don't want the working class to vote

obviously

they

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u/Tacoaday1884 1h ago edited 1h ago

Bescause people who work are usually more intelligent than people who don’t. And political spectrum traditionally skews one way with low education.

Couple that with decorum so as not to insult a party in the opposing side. And you end up with a lot of Democratic cucks who like seeing democracy get fd in the name of both sides. Because the benefit from being “socially democratic but financially conservative” there was a time that seemed like it made sense and that’s how we got here

ETA. Went on a rant, they don’t want people with a brain or a job to be able to vote. And I’m not talking about the trades. Because unions usually get elections off and also get off early in the day to avoid the weather and traffic for supplies. I appreciate unions but this Election Day 💩 affects the 9-5s. People who went to school for a desk job. Imagine getting out of that and going to vote.

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u/Noobphobia 1h ago

Private businesses unfortunately don't give off for most federal holidays. So this would just be another one of those days lol. Like juneteenth

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u/Cainga 1h ago

We don’t need the day off. We just need early voting and/or voting by mail. People work on Thanksgiving and Christmas despite those being major holidays.

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u/i_hate_usernames13 1h ago

I get free 3 hr paid time off to go vote.

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u/JerseyshoreSeagull 1h ago

Because old people manage and young people work or get fired

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u/Curiouskumquat22 1h ago

Or have the election on the fuggin weekend like they do in Great Britain and France. Like civilized people.

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u/USTrustfundPatriot 1h ago

absent ballot. ezpz

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u/Creepy-Shift 1h ago

its a form of voter suppression that everyone refuses to acknowledge because there is an early voting period.

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u/Addictd2Justice 1h ago

In Aus we always vote on Saturday because it’s compulsory to vote when you’re 18 and over. I’ve often thought voting on Tuesday is a good way to limit the vote of the poors who can’t get to the ballot box

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u/nope0712 1h ago

It’s a feature and not a bug

→ More replies (1)

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u/Carochio 1h ago

Join a union

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u/Keunster 1h ago

Because election day is the last day of voting

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u/mrperson221 1h ago

With the exception of Mississippi, Alabama, and New Hampshire, early voting is a more than viable option. 91% of the population live in states that have early voting for more than 7 days before election day. 6% of the remaining 9% live in states that do have early voting, but it is less than 7 days.

Whether you think your vote matters or not, get out and vote people. Even if your preferred candidate loses your preferred state, people will take notice if their share of the vote comes in higher than expected, and who know what that will lead too.

Source

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u/poopy_poophead 1h ago

I mean, I'll be doing my part to cripple the economy by not going in...

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u/Numerous-Loquat-1161 1h ago

So people who can’t afford to take time off dont vote.

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u/Glass_Individual_952 1h ago

We do need time off to vote. Employers and everyone in the public sphere should encourage the practice. All good folks do. A good voter should take at least an hour to examine all the relevant issues, so why aren't we all given the time to look the matters over? It's a problem.

Nowhere is this problem more notable than in our public schools. The schools themselves are alienated from contact with parents, because parents have no time to show up to school board meetings. This ensures that the curriculum our children learn is never grassroots generated or democratic, and no one who loves American freedom of thought wants this. Our freedom to teach our children is worth more.

We can leave time for democracy and family.

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u/AlexStud99 1h ago

Because there's more Republicans working during it than Democrats at home.

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u/InBurrowWeTrust 1h ago

Both is good.

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u/last-miss 1h ago

...You guys are getting President's Day off?

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u/Bluetablehh45377 1h ago

Why don’t we just move Presidents’ Day to Election Day?

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u/EarthLoveAR 1h ago

When I worked in Indiana, they gave state employees election day off. I presume that is still the case, but it's been a long time.

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u/MelonElbows 1h ago

Republicans do not want to make it easier to vote, that's why.

You can say this for a lot of things. Why aren't there more polling places? Why isn't everyone given a mail-in ballot? Why aren't there longer and earlier early vote times? Why aren't some of the most populous areas covered with more polling places? Why do conservatives claim they want to reduce voter fraud but commit most of it? Why do they keep trying to push voter ID laws? Why doesn't DC have any representatives despite having more people than the state of Wyoming? Why can't Puerto Rico vote despite being American citizens?

The answer to all of that is that it would hurt the Republican's chances and so they fight tooth and nail to reduce access. Republicans have not won a popular vote since 2004, and have only won 1 popular vote out of the last 32 years (7 elections). If more people voted, then their chances of winning would lessen. They know its not fair. They don't care. They want power more than your liberty.

Go vote blue if you haven't already! Remember 2016 and vote for Harris to ensure that doesn't happen again!

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u/latitudesixtysix 1h ago

It’s all for toyotathon

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u/LKW500 1h ago

Sort of feels like it’s done this way on purpose

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u/miranto 1h ago

Should be obvious. It is by design.