Election Day
07 Nov 2006Election day is here. Did you vote? I did and I had to wait in line which is unusual in an off-year election. I’m a Democrat. Not like anyone reading this blog couldn’t figure that out. The polling place where I vote is in the meeting hall of a local gun club (of which I’m a member). Talk about feeling out numbered. I’m probably the only thing colored blue within a half a mile of the place. Still, they put up with me mostly because I keep their web site up a running. If you’re going to be different at least be useful :)
And in the spirit of the day, I thought I dig up some Election Day triva to share.
Election Day is the Tuesday on or after November 2nd. (sometimes it’s listed as the first Tuesday after the first Monday).
Why Election Day is the Day It Is:
- November was selected because the harvest work was done.
- Tuesday was selected because many people had to travel the day before to reach the polling place. Since most people did not travel on Sunday for religious reasons, they did not want it to be on a Monday.
- They did not want Election Day to fall on November 1st because it is All Saints Day.
- They did not want Election Day to fall on the first of the month because many shop keepers did their books for the preceding month on the first. Ronald Reagan received the greatest number of electoral votes of any President–525 in 1984
In Oregon, all elections are vote-by-mail
Election Day is a legal holiday in some states, including Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maryland, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and West Virginia
Democratic Representative John Conyers of Michigan recently introduced a bill in the House of Representatives that would make Election Day a national holiday, Democracy Day