Washington, DC— On Wednesday, Sen. Herb Kohl and Rep. Steve Israel
(D-NY) announced the introduction of the Weekend Voting Act in both
the Senate and the House of Representatives. The legislation would
move Election Day from the first Tuesday in November to the first full
weekend in November. Kohl and Israel both sponsored the legislation in
previous sessions of Congress.

“Holding elections on the first Tuesday of November makes it
difficult, even impossible, for many Americans with work and family
responsibilities to exercise their fundamental right to vote,” Kohl
said. “Weekend voting would remove unnecessary obstacles to voting and
ensure more fair, open, and credible elections for citizens to choose
their representatives in government.”

“When Congress decided, in 1845, that we should vote on a Tuesday it
made sense. It was the easiest day for farmers in our agrarian society
to get to the polls. Times have changed, and Tuesday voting just
doesn’t make sense anymore,” said Rep. Steve Israel. “Voting should be
easy. It should be accessible. By moving Election Day from a single
day in the middle of the work week, to a full weekend, we are
encouraging Americans to participate. Our democracy will be best
served when our leaders are elected by as many Americans as
possible.”

The Weekend Voting Act would mandate national polls to be open from 10
a.m. (Eastern Time) Saturday to 6 p.m. (ET) Sunday in the 48
contiguous states. Election officials would be permitted to close
polls during the overnight hours if they determine it would be
inefficient to keep them open.

“Despite the excitement of the 2008 campaign, all the early
predictions of record voter turnout proved to be too optimistic,” said
Dr. Norman Ornstein, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise
Institute, and co-founder of Why Tuesday?, a nonpartisan group seeking
to increase voter participation. “Turnout was up, but barely higher
than in 2004. At the same time, many voters found their experience at
the polls marred by long lines at peak hours early in the morning
before work or at the end of the day after work. During the campaign,
President-Elect Obama talked about bringing our antiquated voting
system into the modern age. The number one reason given by nonvoters
in the U.S. Census for not casting a ballot is that they’re too busy.
This proposal to move Election Day from Tuesday, where it has been
since 1845, to the weekend, is a giant step in the right direction.”

The long-standing tradition of holding federal elections on the first
Tuesday of November began with an act of Congress in 1845. Tuesday was
selected because of its comparative convenience because it was a
designated “court day” and the day in which land-owners would
typically be in town to conduct business. The tradition was based on
the then-agrarian American society.

In today’s America, 60 percent of all households have two working
adults. Since most polls are open only 12 hours (from 7 a.m. to 7
p.m.) voters only have one or two hours to vote. As seen in the 2008
and 2004 elections and primaries, long lines in many polling places
kept voters waiting longer than one or two hours.

The Weekend Vote Act would also build on individual state efforts to
increase voter participation by providing absentee ballots and early
voting. Thirty-two states permit in-person early voting at election
offices or at other approved satellite locations. Twenty-eight states
allow registered voters no-excuse absentee voting by mail.