5 ms·

The UK votes on a weekday too! Though I think it's the combination of weekday voting and short polling station hours that's bad. Weekend voting would feel weir

The UK votes on a weekday too! Though I think it's the combination of weekday voting and short polling station hours that's bad. Weekend voting would feel weird to me, but you're probably right that it's better.

jharger 9y ago
I feel like weekend voting would help for those who work "regular 9-5 jobs" but those who are young, and say still in college/university and working weekends, would now have a more difficult time voting. The weekend type jobs usually won't let you have time off to vote, they schedule you that time because they're busy, so it might be much more difficult for those people. At least the weekday election day somewhat levels the playing field, at least as I see it.
- ekimekim 9y ago
  Why not leave the polls open for multiple days then?
  - abawany 9y ago
    Texas has early voting for about two weeks prior to poll day, which makes voting convenient. That said, the recent attempts at voter suppression and gerrymandering abuse are saddening.
- ben-schaaf 9y ago
  Why not just make it a public holiday? Maybe even offer some cheap food at each venue.
  - aninhumer 9y ago
    I'd go beyond that even. The US loves pageantry and celebrating freedom. But what event could be more appropriate for a celebration of freedom than voting day itself? You could have small festivals at every voting booth to encourage people to come out to vote, and you could even move the ballot boxes as part of a big parade so there's absolutely no doubt in the process.
mnw21cam 9y ago
Indeed. Not very long ago, the BBC ran a story entitled "Why are elections in the UK held on Thursdays?": http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-hampshire-39795769/why-are-elections-in-the-uk-held-on-thursdays http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-hampshire-39795769/w...
nl 9y ago
In Australia we vote on Saturdays. That seems to work ok.
- NamTaf 9y ago
  It works very well. We also have a basically-no-questions-asked early voting for a couple of weeks. Nominally it's intended for if you're preoccupied (overseas, working, etc.) on voting day but in practice people use it to dodge the lines. That said, we also have so many voting booths (I have never not been able to walk to my closest - usually only about 1km away) that the worst line I've ever waited in was probably 10 minutes.

jharger 9y ago

I feel like weekend voting would help for those who work "regular 9-5 jobs" but those who are young, and say still in college/university and working weekends, would now have a more difficult time voting. The weekend type jobs usually won't let you have time off to vote, they schedule you that time because they're busy, so it might be much more difficult for those people. At least the weekday election day somewhat levels the playing field, at least as I see it.

ekimekim 9y ago
Why not leave the polls open for multiple days then?
- abawany 9y ago
  Texas has early voting for about two weeks prior to poll day, which makes voting convenient. That said, the recent attempts at voter suppression and gerrymandering abuse are saddening.
ben-schaaf 9y ago
Why not just make it a public holiday? Maybe even offer some cheap food at each venue.
- aninhumer 9y ago
  I'd go beyond that even. The US loves pageantry and celebrating freedom. But what event could be more appropriate for a celebration of freedom than voting day itself? You could have small festivals at every voting booth to encourage people to come out to vote, and you could even move the ballot boxes as part of a big parade so there's absolutely no doubt in the process.

mnw21cam 9y ago

Indeed. Not very long ago, the BBC ran a story entitled "Why are elections in the UK held on Thursdays?": http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-hampshire-39795769/why-are-elections-in-the-uk-held-on-thursdays http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-hampshire-39795769/w...

nl 9y ago

In Australia we vote on Saturdays. That seems to work ok.

NamTaf 9y ago
It works very well. We also have a basically-no-questions-asked early voting for a couple of weeks. Nominally it's intended for if you're preoccupied (overseas, working, etc.) on voting day but in practice people use it to dodge the lines. That said, we also have so many voting booths (I have never not been able to walk to my closest - usually only about 1km away) that the worst line I've ever waited in was probably 10 minutes.