5 ms·

Plus, we vote on Saturday. Weekday voting is incredibly disenfranchising.

by jdub 16y ago

riffic 16y ago
In 1845, the United States was largely an agrarian society. Farmers often needed a full day to travel by horse-drawn vehicles to the county seat to vote. Tuesday was established as election day because it did not interfere with the Biblical Sabbath or with market day, which was on Wednesday in many towns. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_Day_(United_States) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_Day_(United_States)
- jdub 16y ago
  That's great, but it's not 1845, and I know that not all Americans are Constitutional fundamentalist nutjobs. :-)
- SkyMarshal 16y ago
  So why not Saturday? That article doesn't mention it. Neither sabbath nor market day, yet still a weekend day. Or did people back then consider Saturday a regular work/week day too?
  - rue 16y ago
    Not Saturday because it would, presumably, take that same whole day to get back.
    - btilly 16y ago
      And note that market day tended to be in the same town where you voted, so arriving a day early was much of a hardship.
philwelch 16y ago
I voted on Saturday, too. Some of the more enlightened states in the US allow voting by mail.
- shinkansen 16y ago
  In fact some States (e.g. WA was like this) only allow voting by mail. Potentially disenfranchising perhaps; how do I vote if I'm homeless?
  - aaronbrethorst 16y ago
    Pierce county in WA still has polling places. It's Oregon that is entirely vote-by-mail.
    - aaronbrethorst 16y ago
      Turns out king county (seattle's county) has three in-person voting facilities for people who need accessible accommodations[1]. News to me. [1] http://kingcounty.gov/elections/voting/accessible.aspx http://kingcounty.gov/elections/voting/accessible.aspx
  - jmaygarden 16y ago
    You'd go to a post office. If a homeless person can't figure that out, then they are uninformed. The US system doesn't work with uninformed voters. So, that's a win IMHO. "Convinced that the people are the only safe depositories of their own liberty, and that they are not safe unless enlightened to a certain degree, I have looked on our present state of liberty as a short-lived possession unless the mass of the people could be informed to a certain degree." --Thomas Jefferson
    - SkyMarshal 16y ago
      It's easier to be informed of candidates' position than the logistics of voting. Free and discarded newspapers are everywhere, and cover the former extensively, but the latter only marginally if at all. Case in point, at least two HN readers (OP and myself) didn't know homeless people could vote by mail at the US Post Office, but I know at least one of them is very well-informed on the issues.
- alain94040 16y ago
Yzupnick 16y ago
In Israel election day is a national holiday and everyone is off from work/school. EDIT: Spelling
halostatue 16y ago
It need not be. By law in Canada, employers are required to make sure that every employee has three and half hours during which they can go vote. http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=faq&document=faqvoting&lang=e#voting26 http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=faq...

Plus, we vote on Saturday. Weekday voting is incredibly disenfranchising.

by jdub 16y ago

Plus, we vote on Saturday. Weekday voting is incredibly disenfranchising.

In 1845, the United States was largely an agrarian society. Farmers often needed a full day to travel by horse-drawn vehicles to the county seat to vote. Tuesday was established as election day because it did not interfere with the Biblical Sabbath or with market day, which was on Wednesday in many towns. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_Day_(United_States) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_Day_(United_States)

jdub 16y ago
That's great, but it's not 1845, and I know that not all Americans are Constitutional fundamentalist nutjobs. :-)
SkyMarshal 16y ago
So why not Saturday? That article doesn't mention it. Neither sabbath nor market day, yet still a weekend day. Or did people back then consider Saturday a regular work/week day too?
- rue 16y ago
  Not Saturday because it would, presumably, take that same whole day to get back.
  - btilly 16y ago
    And note that market day tended to be in the same town where you voted, so arriving a day early was much of a hardship.

philwelch 16y ago

I voted on Saturday, too. Some of the more enlightened states in the US allow voting by mail.

shinkansen 16y ago
In fact some States (e.g. WA was like this) only allow voting by mail. Potentially disenfranchising perhaps; how do I vote if I'm homeless?
- aaronbrethorst 16y ago
  Pierce county in WA still has polling places. It's Oregon that is entirely vote-by-mail.
  - aaronbrethorst 16y ago
    Turns out king county (seattle's county) has three in-person voting facilities for people who need accessible accommodations[1]. News to me. [1] http://kingcounty.gov/elections/voting/accessible.aspx http://kingcounty.gov/elections/voting/accessible.aspx
- jmaygarden 16y ago
  You'd go to a post office. If a homeless person can't figure that out, then they are uninformed. The US system doesn't work with uninformed voters. So, that's a win IMHO. "Convinced that the people are the only safe depositories of their own liberty, and that they are not safe unless enlightened to a certain degree, I have looked on our present state of liberty as a short-lived possession unless the mass of the people could be informed to a certain degree." --Thomas Jefferson
  - SkyMarshal 16y ago
    It's easier to be informed of candidates' position than the logistics of voting. Free and discarded newspapers are everywhere, and cover the former extensively, but the latter only marginally if at all. Case in point, at least two HN readers (OP and myself) didn't know homeless people could vote by mail at the US Post Office, but I know at least one of them is very well-informed on the issues.
alain94040 16y ago

Yzupnick 16y ago

In Israel election day is a national holiday and everyone is off from work/school. EDIT: Spelling

halostatue 16y ago

It need not be. By law in Canada, employers are required to make sure that every employee has three and half hours during which they can go vote. http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=faq&document=faqvoting&lang=e#voting26 http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=faq...