The presidential US elections are set to take place on November 5, 2024, which is the first Tuesday of the month.
However, the date for the election is not decided at random, instead, it’s a rule in the United States of America (USA) that the election date to vote for the president of the country must fall on the first Tuesday in November.
This is called Election Day, which falls on the first Tuesday in November. But how did this come about, and why is this a rule?
What’s The Deal With US Election Day?
The US general elections are held every four years that essentially select the new President, one of the highest and most powerful positions, in the country.
However, while citizens are, in the bigger picture, voting to choose a presidential candidate, their actual vote is for the state electors.
Election Day has an interesting history, though. The Act of Election Day was passed by Congress on January 23, 1845, and established that a single election day for the entire country must be selected for the US president and vice-president elections.
The Act of 28th Congress states “Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the electors of President and Vice President shall be appointed in each State on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November of the year in which they are to be appointed…”
The tradition has existed for almost 180 years now. Before 1845, election dates for states varied, and a 34-day period was also given within which all states must hold elections, after which the Electoral College would meet to select the next President in December.
Why November?
November was selected for the election period since it fell right in the middle with the harvest season just finishing before the harsh winter season could descend.
America was still an agrarian society then, therefore the election date was based on when the farmers would be free to vote. Spring wasn’t good since that was planting season while in summer the farmers had to work in the field.
Overseas Vote Foundation organisation speaking on this said, “The majority of Americans were farmers at the time the federal law was passed.”
November on the other hand, was the best time with History stating the “Spring and early summer elections were thought to interfere with the planting season, and late summer and early fall elections overlapped with the harvest. That left the late fall month of November — after the harvest was complete, but before the arrival of harsh winter weather—as the best choice.”
This month was also compatible with the legal framework since the Electoral College got together on the first Wednesday in December to select the President.
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Why Tuesday?
The decision to hold the election on a Tuesday has several reasons behind it. One of them is that with transport still being slow, the selected day would have to take into account the travel time needed for people travelling from far away to reach the polling places.
Around the mid-1800s the right to vote was expanded to non-landowning white men over the age of 21, which again called for a streamlined voting process.
There was also a fear that voters could be influenced if the elections were held in such a scattered manner, especially with the rise of railroads and telegraphs that allowed for faster spread of the news.
It was contended that voters from states that held elections later could be swayed by those that held elections early, creating an overall problem in the elections.
The selection of Tuesday was also a meticulous decision that rose from the Christian religion that most of the voting population followed. Sunday is an important day for Christians when they visit the church and worship.
So Sunday was ruled out of the list, then Wednesdays were also ruled out since they were usually market days in many areas, where farmers would set up shop to sell their harvest. Along with that, at least one day of travel was required since during those days transport was slow and the distance between various stops was large spanning many kilometres.
This also ruled out Monday and Thursday, since people couldn’t travel on Sunday or Wednesday to reach the polling booth.
Thus, Tuesday was finalised as the election day as it didn’t encroach onto people’s Sunday, while also giving them one day of travel on Monday and being able to reach the polling place on Tuesday to vote.
The second Tuesday of November was also selected to avoid a clash with November 1 which is considered as All Saints Day in the Christian religion.
Merchants also used the first day of the month for bookkeeping and taking stock of their finances from the previous month. In the end, the second Tuesday in November was finalised as the date for elections in the US.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: The Indian Express, Livemint, Firstpost
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: US Elections, US Elections 2024, US presidential Elections, Donald trump, kamala harris, US Elections date, US Elections tuesday, US Elections vote date, US Elections vote day,
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