Journal pudge's Journal: Making Election Day a Federal Holiday 4
Apparently State Senator Steve Hobbs (D-44), whose district is found entirely within Snohomish County, doesn't realize that Snohomish County (like most of Washington State) is all vote-by-mail,* because he introduced a bill asking the federal legislature to make election day a national holiday.
The bill is just completely bizarre in its total inapplicability to Hobbs' own constituents:
WHEREAS, The opportunity to participate in the electoral process, and the act of voting that embodies that opportunity, represent the cornerstone of our democracy, and voters should have ample opportunity to cast meaningful votes
and WHEREAS, Fostering a high voter turnout is crucial in order to ascertain with greatest certainty the political will of the voting public; and WHEREAS, Voter turnout in Washington's general elections has varied from as high as 82% in presidential elections to as low as 52% in other elections; and WHEREAS, Increasing voter turnout can be directly linked to the ease with which voters can cast their ballots
and WHEREAS, Although employers are required to allow employees to take time off of work in order to vote, a temporary absence from work may pose hardships for employers, and employees may be reluctant to request time off
and WHEREAS, More public buildings, especially schools, would be available for use as polling places; and more, better trained poll workers, including patriotic high school and college students, might be available to staff polling places on election day
Regardless of the merits of the idea, it is very odd to see someone introduce a bill like this that has absolutely no applicability to his own constituents; and when King goes to all-mail, then this would represent Washington State petitioning the federal government to impose a federal holiday on the rest of the nation for something that doesn't have any effect on Washington State.
* I personally don't vote by mail. I never have. I vote in person: Snohomish County always has several days of polling places around the county leading up to election day (what it calles Disabled Access Voting sites) as required by federal law.
Cross-posted on <pudge/*>.
Real reason behind this effort (Score:2)
Give them the day off, and they're hoping that most show up to the polls.
I'd suggest that less would... most are going to enjoy the holiday, and not bother, whereas if they're at a job they dislike, that 2 hours off to go vote is a nice break in the day for them.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Most Federal Employees are unionized, and most unionized employees vote for Democrats.
Give them the day off, and they're hoping that most show up to the polls.
The point I am making is that it makes NO DIFFERENCE for any of this Senator's constituents. So obviously, this is not FOR his constituents. And really, it makes no difference for most voters in the STATE (and soon, all of them, as they make all-mail voting statewide). One reason he is doing it could be to help win national elections, or at least win Democratic elections nationwide.
I think a much better way is to have multi-day voting. Almost everyone gets at least one day off over a five-day period in
Re: (Score:2)
Here is an insane idea: have the voting only as a means of identifying a pool of qualified applicants, then match the applicants to the offices by lottery.
While this would not be at all practical in reality, the mental picture of the consternation on the faces of those who set out to control the political process is pleasurable, indeed.