Month: April 2023

Election day in the United States typically falls on a Tuesday in the middle of the day. For such a large country which is supposed to be dedicated to the democratic process and representing all citizens, why not hold the elections at a more convenient time?

Every year, thousands of Americans are not counted in the electoral process. Some choose to abstain from voting, while many others are simply unable to vote, and the inconvenient times at which voting is available is part of the problem.

According to Why Tuesday? a nonprofit which is hoping to change the timing of election day, Tuesday was picked in 1845 because it was most convenient for farmers. Farmers needed, “a day to travel to the polls, a day to vote, and a day to get back — all without interfering with religious rituals or ‘market day,'” (Marketplace). While this system may have been convenient back then, times have certainly changed.

There have been efforts to get election day recognized as a federal holiday, or move the voting process to Veterans Day which is already a designated holiday. Many fighting for this change believe it will result in greater voter turnout. However, the process to create a new federal holiday is challenging and involves a lot of moving pieces.

Businesses are a top concern for those pushing back on creating an election day holiday, as creating a new holiday would mean extra vacation time for employees mandated by the government. Some believe that this new holiday would cost businesses too much in productivity and profit.

However, with a shift in attitude towards the five day work week on the rise and the growing sentiment that more time at work does not necessarily mean more work done, I don’t believe this will be as large of a hit to businesses’ bottom lines as some may believe.

A shift to a more convenient time would allow for more people to be represented, especially some of the hardest working Americans unable to take time away from their jobs to vote. Citizens with responsibilities such as school, work, or family matters (children, older relatives, etc.) do not have the ability to make their voices heard under the current circumstances. Fortunately there are many congressional petitions and citizen led petitions which are hoping to make change and have everyone’s voice heard.

We are all aware that the United States’ election system is unique compared to others across the world. There are a lot of outside influences on elections (some which we have discussed such as lobbying) but perhaps none more sinister and divisive than gerrymandering.

The redwaing of voting boundaries is not new, and is a once a decade process that, since 1941, has happened after the census at the beginning of each new decade (Congressional Research Service). However, this process has been corrupted by political parties in the attempt to gain unfair advantages and swing elections. In 2019, the supreme court ruled that gerrymandering for party advantage cannot be challenged in court, which according to the Brennan Center for Justice, “has set the stage for perhaps the most ominous round of map drawing in the country’s history.”

So why is gerrymandering so detrimental to our democracy?

Gerrymandering reverses the voting process. Instead of voters picking their politicians to represent them, politicians are now picking their voters. Redistricting is meant to create a fair and better picture of the American population, but now it is used to select the population that will help the interests of a political party.

So what is being done in order to stop or at least slow down the gerrymandering and its effects?

Well, unfortunately we cannot make changes significant enough to stop gerrymandering with our current setup. However, all hope is not lost. There are various groups with large social media campaigns such as EndGerrymandering.com that hope to bring more attention to the issue and rally support.

There is also the possibility of creating whole new government entities in charge of redistrcting, which would be free from political motivation and focus on the original ideas of redistricting: maintaining a fair and balanced election which is representative of the entire population.

Another possible solution is to have a bipartisan redistricting, where leaders and representatives of both political parties come to a consesnsus on how maps should be redrawn.

Either solution is viable, but there is one thing for sure: gerrymandering needs to be put to an end as soon as possible. Gerrymandering reverses the democratic process, essentially nulls voters in certain districts, and is overall a detrimental practice which is allowed in our nation only through incompetence.

Hopefully soon, this article will no longer be relevant, until then, keep fighting.