In 2005. Rep. John Conyers of Michigan proposed a bill to make election day a federal holiday called "Democracy Day." In order for this bill to become law it must be re-proposed to the current Congress.I think election day should be a national holiday. That would increase voter turn-out, and make more people available to work at the polls. Some people who work multiple jobs are forced to wait in long lines, and may not vote. Some people are not physically able to stand in long lines for hours.
In 2004, 129,000 people in Ohio were disenfranchised of their right to vote. This cannot happen again. With record high voter turnout predicted, we should be prepared, and paper ballots should be available. Make sure you get to vote!
I realize that many states have early voting, and absentee ballots, but making election day a national holiday would convey that voting is an important civic duty and democracy should be celebrated. Most kids are off from school anyway. Other countries have voting on a weekend, and have made election day a federal holiday, and they use the traditional paper ballots.
In Georgia, where they have early voting, people recently had to wait in line for 4, 5, and even 6 hours to vote. Wow.
I think paper ballots should be used and votes hand counted. Some electronic voting machines leave no paper trail and can make errors. I am worried about the touch screen machines. They use those machines where I vote.
I can feel the excitement in the air! Where I vote, normally there is no line, but I guess I should be prepared to stand in line. Our 7 yr. old is excited about the election too!
Make sure your vote is counted!
UPDATE MON NIGHT: I have just heard that early voters have been waiting in line to vote in Fla. for up to 9 hrs. And there are not enough voting machines in battleground states to deal with the predicted huge increase in voter turnout for tomorrow's election. There could be chaos!
![Irv Muchnick, Concussion Inc. [The Only Honest Reporting on Martin vs Villa/SLAPP]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPD2coV7RQATuCUf-3rw1R677yxUImhkVfkwctN91m7yfi3nNdoiPeWor3ZFheb8-GpJgZmYhLB110qFaj3cJ-Chizn5_-t0OCc58nBiQZ8ExJNvSonqN7DCj2ETWDi4Wy0_OObaC3JgJ5_i8VJtUJ3RFDUDQf0VyiSghcV4xshIX6yCIdMs4SUh6t=s220)
![[Reneged] City Solicitor Kloiber Bans Cousin Jeffrey Anthony Defamation & Harassment of Villas](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjrGZtm_TCRriA3DHGTVASeEr_XIZD_pQqaf-fCuaf2k-ApQAze7ZAeVU-I6gHcE8Tt6WXadtqw_hAOHjaJe11PiUx2MPPSCMN-MC5RBeCcjKX_DjAhw7IS0eWcKGimIJ9oImiqAkx3jw5l6mT-LnUEQ3U2JmCZyik1BNyiLbXmHr-MSBjt3fMiO6k4=s310)
![[Reneged] Villa Defense Witness: "Judge" Anthony](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilEA5zRbHJ2QZAT9qDc0rbK8z4aAEOKvk_sodBrrul56cu0MeXGjYPqfiUm1BuTWqDQakCDdKpcM6ozIrgcLLpHcBTlXWl5yC2ODubS5_xHNDtieJnNg-ucIejp3eZORHRROmETUoFGKiW/s220/10653495_508198589366170_7055316366826361693_n.jpg)
14 comments:
This is ACTUALLY a great idea! It would help voter turnout tremendously, but you KNOW the powers that be may not want this.
Alfonso Todd
Alfonso,
Maybe after this election they will change their minds!
Since 1964, the Republican Party has done everything it can to suppress voter turnout and voter registration.
"Country First."
Sarina, Thanks. I think because of the bloggers and videographers acting as watchdogs that we will be in much better shape for this election! I am keeping my fingers crossed, although there are all sorts of scams and shenanigans going on across the country to suppress voter turnout.
BV, I don't think the Dems are going to sit back for this one. The stakes are too high. Finally Americans are waking up to the lies and deceitful tactics that were used by the R's in prior elections, not to mention the tactics used by the Bush admin. for 8 years, we have had ENOUGH And now Cheney is endorsing McCain!
The times are a changin' baby.
I feel like a kid the night before Christmas.
"now Cheney is endorsing McCain!" -Mrs. Dottie
Perfect! The kiss of death from (9% approval rating?) Darth Vader. And great timing there too. Dick. Bye.
I feel like a kid the night before Christmas.
Me too and a really greedy kid who wants all the Kerry '04 Blue states plus Arizona, Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, Indiana, gimme gimme gimme ALL 50 STATES PLUS THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
Did everybody see Chris Rock's current comedy special on HBO? He says if Barack Obama gets elected, and if you had been counting on a black person for something, anything, the day AFTER the election? Go ahead and CANCEL IT because all black people everywhere are gonna be really really busy and unavailable for anything on November 5 :) and is this totally understandable or what! What an American story. Barack Obama. God, I pray he wins.
Sad news to report, today Obama's grandmother passed away.
... sad news, indeed, that Barack's grandma won't get to see him become the first African-American U.S. President. But something tells me she knew it would come to pass.
On a happier note, we've made Election Day a Household Holiday at our house today-- festivities so far have included voting for Barack Obama (and I voted straight ticket and for only Democrats for the first time ever), picnic lunch (Brass Rail) in Lehigh Parkway, and monitoring the transformation of Red states into Blue states on TV. Still to come: wild celebrating.
Turnout has been incredible! There were 50 people in line at my precinct this afternoon. Usually there are two besides myself and my husband. It's really inspiring to see such interest and excitement! I, too, am looking forward to some wild celebrating....fingers and toes are crossed.
Sarina,
Glad to hear about high turnout!There was about a fifteen minute wait when we voted at around 11 am.
This is the first time we have ever had to wait in a line. I noticed there were twice the number of voting machines. It was great to see so many young people voting, and many first time voters.
So exciting, and very emotional.
Emotional is right. I was crying waiting in line to vote. I'm crying now. 389 years ago, African people were brought here in chains and the cruel and inhuman treatment of them went downhill from there: slavery, lynchings, mayhem, KKK, intimidation, disrespect, degradations, denials of liberty, Jim Crow, segregation, Bull Conor, George Wallace, Lester Maddox, Roxbury in Boston, police dogs, water canons, church explosions, little children murdered, leaders murdered, affirmative inaction, racism, bigotry, hate, I could go on & on here, for a long time, and I'm white-- and far, far removed from what it feels like to be Black in America.
And now, God willing, we're going to have a U.S. President who is a Black American Man.
I don't where to begin to describe the emotion involved here ...
Post a Comment