Election Day

[ravenmaniac4life]

I never worked for an employer that didn't allow its employees time off to go vote. With that said, I've never had an issue voting AND working a full 8 hour day.

nobody has...

it's a political talking point based in bullshit

[BPF2]

nobody has...

it's a political talking point based in bullshit

I could be wrong, but I thought it was illegal for employers to disallow you from voting on election day. Am I mistaken?

[DitkasSausage]

I could be wrong, but I thought it was illegal for employers to disallow you from voting on election day. Am I mistaken?

You are correct. Your employer needs to allow you the time to vote. If they said, "hey, we have too much to do today... don't go vote." You can still go and if they use any punitive action, you could sue the hell out of them. I've never worked for an employer that ever said squat about it. As an employer... it is pretty basic stuff to know this. It ranks up there with not being able to slap them on the behind...

[DitkasSausage]

I see what you're saying, and I agree that private employers shouldn't have to observe any of those, but I feel like it would be an easy step to encourage more voting. It's more important to democracy than a day of remembrance like Labor Day, MLK, Columbus Day or Veterans Day. I guess it's just really mind-boggling.

Your employer is legally obligated to allow you time off to vote. While they don't have to give you the full day off, they cannot prevent you from going to vote. The only instance they can is when voting is allowed during non-work hours (example: You are scheduled until 5:00pm and the polls are open until 7:00 and you only have a 20 minute commute). So early voting CAN assist with that as well. Honestly... I do not like the idea of a "Federal Day Off" to vote. Can you imagine the mass craziness some places would have??? Also, it wouldn't help with voter numbers. In the current system, if you are unable to vote, you probably don't give a crap anyhow... so maybe you shouldn't be voting...

[cvilleRaven]

The only people with a legitimate claim that they cannot leave work to vote are:
emergency responders (police/fire/medical)
deployed military
hospital employees (in particular: doctors, nurses)

And guess who would also be equally unaffected by a federal holiday for voting? These are the same people (as a group, not necessarily each individual) who give up every holiday, federally recognized or not. They STILL won't get a day off of work.

Not to mention, you know damn good and well that retailers would view a new holiday as a chance to drive people into their stores. That means more retail employees working additional hours, where they are now less likely to find time to vote on election day.

This is a "feel good" solution in search of a problem that, with half an ounce of preparation, does not exist.