When considering the issue of Election Day being a national holiday, the Collegiate staff was conflicted. It seemed like such a split decision. On one hand, if people would just make voting a priority, they should be able to find time to do it. On the other, when some students have three jobs, go to school full time, and having children to take care of, it’s easy to see how a busy schedule would conflict with voting poll hours.
So, being the intuitive students we are, we hit the facts. Statistic Brain states that only 57 percent of Americans voted in the 2012 Presidential election. At first glance, this statistic seems staggering. Though, with a little investigative journalism you’ll find that the number is actually pretty reasonable. Statistic Brain states that only 146,311,000 Americans are registered to vote. And, from that, 126,144,000 participated in the last presidential election.
Who’s to say that those 20 million people weren’t working all day? Making Election Day a national holiday would not only shut down major businesses, but also banks, schools, post offices, etc. And, here at the Collegiate we believe that a few hours in the day that aren’t filled with classes could be spent waiting in lines at the polls.
This change would open up the schedules of those who claim they do not have time to vote, but, it could be argued that the probability of those people actually spending their day off to vote may be slim. If voting is not a priority for a person to begin with, why would it be assumed that that same person would use this extra time to vote?
As a whole, Delta struggled to get out and vote during the last presidential election, with a paltry voter turnout rate of 47 percent. We have a responsibility as a student body to have a greater say in the democracy of our country.
Turning Election Day into a national holiday would help millions of Americans vote (20,167,000 people to be exact). However, it won’t be the key to participation. Everyone needs to take action, get registered, get educated, and get to the polls.
Though we at the collegiate do believe that adding one more national holiday to the calendar would be beneficial, we also agree that it isn’t the entire issue.
One vote may not determine the presidential election, but the 8,873 votes that walk the halls of Delta every day could. The holiday is not the difference: you are.
