Hutch Dubosque, author 1/26/2021
ELECTION
DAY-USA
WHAT’S
WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?
In almost every civilized Country in the
World in-person voting is not relegated one single day, officially. They spread
their voting process over three, four, sometimes five days. They have a mail-in
voting system, however, when given the option of multiple days on which to vote,
they choose to go vote in person. This extended method seems to work fairly and
efficiently.
That would be almost every Country.
Ah-ha, there is one notable exception; the United States of America. “Pourquoi
est-ce?” That’s what I said: “Why is this?” Are politicians afraid of what
might happen if we extended the number of voting days? Are they afraid that
almost every eligible voter may cast their vote, as per our Constitution?
Something smells rotten here, and, as it is said, “the fish always rots from the head”.
A
brief encapsulation on the history of Election Day follows.
from: Wikipedia:
By 1792, federal law permitted each state to
choose Presidential electors any time within a 34-day period[3] before the first Wednesday in December.[4] A November election was convenient
because the harvest would have been completed but the most
severe winter weather, impeding transportation, would not yet have arrived,
while the new election results also would roughly conform to a new year.
Tuesday was chosen as Election Day so that voters could attend church on
Sunday, travel to the polling location (usually in the county seat) on Monday, and vote before Wednesday, which
was usually when farmers would sell their produce at the market.[5] Originally, states varied considerably
in the method of choosing electors. Gradually, states converged on selection by
some form of popular vote. [1]
Development of the Morse electric telegraph, funded by Congress in 1843 and successfully tested in 1844,
was a technological change that clearly augured an imminent future of instant communication
nationwide.[6] To prevent information from one state
from influencing Presidential electoral outcomes in another, Congress responded
in 1845 by mandating a uniform national date for choosing Presidential
electors.[1] Congress chose the first Tuesday after
the first Monday in November to harmonize current electoral practice with the
existing 34-day window in federal law, as the span between Election Day and the
first Wednesday in December is always 29 days.[7] The effect is to constrain Election Day
to the week between November 2 and 8 inclusive. Beginning with Presidential
elections, states gradually brought most elections into conformity with this
date. [1]
The Twentieth Amendment, passed in 1933, changed the beginning and end date for the terms of the President, Vice President, Congressmen, and Senators. It did not affect the timing of Election Day. [1]
References:
A National referendum could solve this
very expeditiously. Let’s make the referendum read something like this.
1.
Modify the current system to allow for four days of
in-person voting.
2.
Retain absentee voting.
3.
Retain mail in voting.
4.
Retract drop-off voting.
5.
Place a minimum on the number of voting sites from
locality to locality. Outlaw gerrymandering of voting districts that only serve
to deny minorities in casting their Constitutional rights for having their vote
count and be counted.
6.
Uniform voting machines Nationwide.
7.
Uniform system for each locality and State to report
their results and set a time limit for them to do so. Fine the tardy ones.
8.
Of utmost priority, abolish the electoral voting
disaster.
I realize this is a very cursory look at
this, but something has to be done to equalize and balance our way of voting.
We should see more National referendums on many issues and policies. I know
this a novel idea, but how about we let the people decide what goes on in This
Country.
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