During Election Years, the Celebration of Washington's Birthday Should be Moved to Election Day
- Target:
- the Congress of the United States of America
- Region:
- United States of America
Voter turnout in the United States of America has long been in decline, and its time that there was a change. We, the world's leading democracy, have one of the lowest voter participation rates in the world. This is what ultimately led to the formation of the bipartisan National Commission on Federal Election Reform headed by Presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford. Therefore, the need for reform is there and the creation of a Federal Election Day holiday is a viable solution.
A survey completed by the U.S. Census Bureau after the 2000 election found that of those who did not vote, a conflict with work or school was listed as the number one culprit. By moving the celebration of Washington's Birthday to Election Day, we can eliminate the usage of a schedule conflict as a possible excuse.
We, as a nation, will be able to celebrate a right made possible by Washington and his successors and honor them in the process.
The number one reason people give for not voting is a schedule conflict with work or school. In order to eliminate the use of that as an excuse, we propose that during election years, the celebration of President George Washington's birthday be moved from the third Monday of February to the second Tuesday (after the first Monday) in November, otherwise known as Election Day.
With Election Day being a federal holiday, more citizens will be encouraged to exercise their right to choose their nation's leader. The country can also feel confident knowing that their government has made voting a priority.
As we go to cast our ballots, we can remember Washington and the other presidents that have made that symbol of freedom possible. We ask that you oblige us.
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The During Election Years, the Celebration of Washington's Birthday Should be Moved to Election Day petition to the Congress of the United States of America was written by Rebecca Gradney and is in the category Government at GoPetition.