WHY ARE AMERICAN ELECTIONS HELD ON TUESDAY.Watch this video to find out
VOCABULARY: ballot=vote
horse and buggy=horse and cart
polls=elections
suv=Sport Utility Vehicle
MICHAEL ROWLAND, REPORTER: Every four years America goes to polls on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November which this year is the second Tuesday in November, and that will be Wednesday in Australia.
Got it? We will do it again.
So this year, the first Tuesday of the month was actually last week, it happened to be the first. But under the law, you have to have a Monday before the election can be scheduled, that was today.
So the first Tuesday after that lands us on the 8th of November 2016.
And because we are on the other side of the dateline, it will be Wednesday in Australia.
But why Tuesday in the first place?
You know why election day in America is on Tuesday?
VOX POP: Uh, not really, no. I don't know.
VOX POP 2: Do I know why it is, no, I don't.
VOX POP 3: I do not either. Isn't that terrible?
VOX POP 2: But we go every year.
VOX POP 4: No I don't, why?
MICHAEL ROWLAND: Would you like to ...
VOX POP 4: Do you know?
MICHAEL ROWLAND: No, I'm going to ask you would you like to guess?
VOX POP 4: I'm an American, you tell me.
VOX POP 5: I will end up on one of those YouTube videos, like this guy doesn't know even why he is voting.
VOX POP 6: Oh gosh, does it have something to do with a former president?
MICHAEL ROWLAND: The answer as it turns out is all about horses and buggies - and it dates back to 1845, alright.
Back then, America was still a largely agrarian society, and folks had to come into a major town to cast their ballot. For many people, that meant a long trip in their horse and buggy.
Friday to Sunday were out because they were days of worship. So people would begin the trip on Monday, and be in the big smoke, ready to cast their vote, on Tuesday.
Then they would go in time to market day, which was on Wednesday.
But buggies of course have long given way to minivans and enormous SUV's.
So why do Americans persist with having the election on Tuesday? Well, it is just tradition, and perhaps a little bit of laziness.
NORMAN ORNSTEIN, POLITICAL SCIENTIST: Our political system is filled with inertia. You have to have some compelling reason, or sometimes a crisis to change.
MICHAEL ROWLAND: Norm Ornstein is from the group Why Tuesday. They are campaigning to get America's polling day moved.
NORMAN ORNSTEIN: Tuesday is a work day to the vast majority of people. And getting to vote is difficult, sometimes impossible.
MICHAEL ROWLAND: In fact one in four people say they are to busy to vote on Tuesday and when voting isn't compulsory, they simply don't turn up.
It leaves the US ranked 138th in the world for voter turnout.
In many places there is postal and pre-poll voting for those who find Tuesday a tough ask.
But 13 states including New York, Pennsylvania, Missouri and Virginia don't even offer that. You vote on the Tuesday or you don't vote at all. So changing the day would seem to be far more convenient.
In Australia we are perfectly used to voting and wheeling out Antony Green on a Saturday, but here they want to go much further.
Under a plan put before Congress, the election wouldn't just the one day, it would be an entire weekend, with polls open from 10 am on Saturday, and closing at six pm on Sunday.
MICHAEL ROWLAND: But it turns out, it isn't that easy to change the day.
The bill to amend the day has been put forward on several occasions since 2012, and it has got stuck each and every time.
The list of reasons range from keeping voting equipment safe overnight, to hiring the staff required to man the booths on a weekend.
So for now the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November remains the day this country chooses its new president.
And then on Wednesday at everyone can still go to market.
MICHAEL ROWLAND, REPORTER: Every four years America goes to polls on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November which this year is the second Tuesday in November, and that will be Wednesday in Australia.
ReplyDeleteGot it? We will do it again.
So this year, the first Tuesday of the month was actually last week, it happened to be the first. But under the law, you have to have a Monday before the election can be scheduled, that was today.
So the first Tuesday after that lands us on the 8th of November 2016.
And because we are on the other side of the dateline, it will be Wednesday in Australia.
But why Tuesday in the first place?
You know why election day in America is on Tuesday?
VOX POP: Uh, not really, no. I don't know.
VOX POP 2: Do I know why it is, no, I don't.
VOX POP 3: I do not either. Isn't that terrible?
VOX POP 2: But we go every year.
VOX POP 4: No I don't, why?
MICHAEL ROWLAND: Would you like to ...
VOX POP 4: Do you know?
MICHAEL ROWLAND: No, I'm going to ask you would you like to guess?
VOX POP 4: I'm an American, you tell me.
VOX POP 5: I will end up on one of those YouTube videos, like this guy doesn't know even why he is voting.
VOX POP 6: Oh gosh, does it have something to do with a former president?
MICHAEL ROWLAND: The answer as it turns out is all about horses and buggies - and it dates back to 1845, alright.
Back then, America was still a largely agrarian society, and folks had to come into a major town to cast their ballot. For many people, that meant a long trip in their horse and buggy.
Friday to Sunday were out because they were days of worship. So people would begin the trip on Monday, and be in the big smoke, ready to cast their vote, on Tuesday.
Then they would go in time to market day, which was on Wednesday.
But buggies of course have long given way to minivans and enormous SUV's.
So why do Americans persist with having the election on Tuesday? Well, it is just tradition, and perhaps a little bit of laziness.
NORMAN ORNSTEIN, POLITICAL SCIENTIST: Our political system is filled with inertia. You have to have some compelling reason, or sometimes a crisis to change.
MICHAEL ROWLAND: Norm Ornstein is from the group Why Tuesday. They are campaigning to get America's polling day moved.
NORMAN ORNSTEIN: Tuesday is a work day to the vast majority of people. And getting to vote is difficult, sometimes impossible.
MICHAEL ROWLAND: In fact one in four people say they are to busy to vote on Tuesday and when voting isn't compulsory, they simply don't turn up.
It leaves the US ranked 138th in the world for voter turnout.
In many places there is postal and pre-poll voting for those who find Tuesday a tough ask.
But 13 states including New York, Pennsylvania, Missouri and Virginia don't even offer that. You vote on the Tuesday or you don't vote at all. So changing the day would seem to be far more convenient.
In Australia we are perfectly used to voting and wheeling out Antony Green on a Saturday, but here they want to go much further.
Under a plan put before Congress, the election wouldn't just the one day, it would be an entire weekend, with polls open from 10 am on Saturday, and closing at six pm on Sunday.
MICHAEL ROWLAND: But it turns out, it isn't that easy to change the day.
The bill to amend the day has been put forward on several occasions since 2012, and it has got stuck each and every time.
The list of reasons range from keeping voting equipment safe overnight, to hiring the staff required to man the booths on a weekend.
So for now the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November remains the day this country chooses its new president.
And then on Wednesday at everyone can still go to market.