Election Day
Election Day
On a bizarre date of Tuesday after the first Monday of November, the US citizens are given the chance to vote for the country’s officials. Thus, Election Day is a Floating Tuesday between November 2 - 8.
Various elections are held during different years. The president is chosen in years divisible by four, while federal offices have their election when the year number is even. Members of the House of Representatives are replaced every two years, while senators are elected for a six-year term, but one-third of them is changed every two years. State and local governments hold their elections with accordance to the state policy, which might coincide with the federal election dates, but often occur during odd-numbered years.
Since the 1788 election proved to be chaotic, in 1792, the federal law reinforced some regulations concerning Election Day. The citizens were expected to choose the state electors within thirty four days before the first Wednesday of December, when the Electoral College meeting was supposed to establish the new president and vice-president. The exact date and method of appointing the elector was unrestricted. The beginning of November was the perfect period, because it did not interrupt the ending harvest and the citizens were not forced to care about elections during a freezing winter. However, due to technological development of communication, the federal officials recognized the fact that election scores ought to emerge on the same day in every state, so that one region would not be swayed by another. Congress set the date in 1845; the Floating Tuesday was a established, because “the first Tuesday of November” would produce a risk that the break between the election and the Electoral College be larger than 34 days.
The federal law does not establish one particular method in which all states must vote; although most local governments enable early and postal voting, a majority of states requires appearing at the voting stations. Early voting is possible in 32 states and the District of Columbia, while Oregon, Colorado and Washington State oblige the citizens to vote via post. Absentee voting does not need a justification in 27 states, but another 21 states require a valid reason for granting this possibility.
After the election by the end of the year, the new president and vice-president are inaugurated on January 20; all other officials begin their term of office in the neighboring period.
Some states, such as New York, Hawaii or West Virginia, regard Election Day as a civic holiday, which is why most citizens have the day off. In other states, if an employee is not excused from work, he or she should be given sufficient time to vote during working hours. Yet another group of states allow all employees to take an unpaid day off.
Whether or not Election Day should be free from work is an important issue, because some voters might be discouraged from showing up at the ballots. That is why an increasing number of private businesses choose to grant their employees a paid holiday during this important democratic event.