A New National Holiday

I have an idea about how to increase voter turnout for future elections because, let’s face it, we will never see what we saw in 2008 again. This year was unprecedented in the number of reasons it gave voters to get off their couch and out to the polls: An unpopular presidency fresh in voters’ minds. A terrible economic crisis. Glass ceilings to be broken. Charismatic populist figures. Tooth and nail competition in the primaries. And a cornucopia of silly stories invading pop-culture. No, never will we see another one quite like this.

But wouldn't it be wonderful to see voter turnout and citizen participation surpass the precedent set by 2008? Imagine a country where, even on humdrum midterm election years, people swarm the polling places excited and informed on the issues.

I heard a touching story after this year’s election. It was a father describing his experience voting for Obama in Virginia. He said he went into the voting booth with his son and, after he made his initial selections and the machine switched to the confirmation screen, he turned to his son and said, “You go ahead and push it. I want you to see what it feels like to vote.” For that boy, his first vote was a profound moment between father and son that he will probably never forget. When he comes of age, he will be a lifetime voter.

There’s only one way to promote that kind of enthusiasm on a national level? We must have a voter’s day off. We could call it “Voting Day” or “Democracy Day” or very simply “Election Day,” but, instead of people rushing to the polls after work or negotiating their lunch schedule to vote, they would just be off and free to go to the polls.

Now, there is a risk that having an Election Day holiday would just encourage people to sleep all day or turn it into an excuse for heavy drinking like most other holidays, but not if it's packaged correctly.

Election Day would not just be a day off to vote. It would be a celebration of Democracy. Weeks before the event, we would build it up in the schools and on network and public television by reviewing all the various sacrifices people made in America and abroad for that simple right to vote. We would promote informed voting by publishing and broadcasting objective information on the issues and candidates. (Frontline’s quadrennial program “The Choice” is a good model for this). Finally, there would be no “Election Day Sales.” Instead businesses would close like on Christmas or Thanksgiving to allow their employees to do their own voting and celebration of democracy.

On Election Day, we would put on our best clothes. We would attend solemn ceremonies and reflect quietly on the importance and legacy of that day. We would take our kids to parades and see old veterans, girlscouts, boyscouts, and civil rights and other activists marching together in solidarity. But mostly we would vote.

Lines of people would form at the polling places. People would smile and chat and try to convince their neighbors as they stood with their family in the sun, the rain and the snow waiting for their chance to enter the booth.

In the evening, people would gather with neighbors, friends, and family and enjoy potluck dinners and block parties while they waited for the results. As the night wore on, some would be happy, some sad, but all would feel privileged to live in a country where all the people are encouraged and enthusiastic to participate in their governmental system.

When I was in Nevada last January helping with their Caucus, I met a Clinton volunteer from Iowa and began chatting with him about the problems our precinct was having with the voting. “Do you guys have these kinds of problems,” I asked. “No” he responded. “We’re Iowans. We caucus. That’s what we do.”

Imagine one Election Day, in the not so distant future, meeting a citizen from another country who comes to you and asks you why so many Americans are dressed up, in line, waiting to vote and you can turn to him and say, “We’re Americans. We vote. That’s what we do.”