Because of Low Turnout, Sanders Filing Bill to Make Election Day a National Holiday

PJ Media ^ | November 7, 2014 | Bridget Johnson

[C19fan]

When the 113th Congress returns next week for its lame-duck session, a senator with a very secure seat — and presidential aspirations — will be filing a bill to make Election Day a national holiday.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said a reason for the legislation, the “Democracy Day Act of 2014,” is low voter turnout on Tuesday.

Sanders said his home state, which had a gubernatorial race, only had 43.7 percent voter turnout, the lowest on record. The United States Elections Project at the University of Florida estimated nationwide turnout at 36.6 percent, the senator noted, with the biggest drop-off among minorities and young people.

[SampleMan]

You can absentee vote, early vote weeks before the election, and vote on election day.

And often, the Democrats do all three.

[Ingtar]

Perhaps this should be pushed and early voting nixed.

[jospehm20]

I could go for this if they also moved tax day to the end of the fiscal year September 30th.

[SkyDancer]

Make it a law that you have to vote?

[SparkyBass]

Great idea! Many libs will start drinking early on this “day off” and won’t be able to even FIND the polls :)

[Proud2BeRight]

early and often

[discostu]

It’s a stupid idea. But I’m totally cool with another holiday. I like time off.

[cripplecreek]

Well hells bells man.

Lets just have year round door to door voting and then we can employ all those ACORN census takers year round.

[Iron Munro]

Just move election day to an existing holidy.

I suggest New Years Day.

Then move the presidential inauguration to January 3d to eliminate Lame Duck sessions.

[DIRTYSECRET]

Allow people over 60 to vote on Monday. Give them a 6 hour window and get them out of the way. On Tuesday everyone else votes and is given 2 and a half minutes to fill out their ballot. Homework required. Fingerprint like they do in Iraq. Winner is declared the same day.

[DPMD]

The implication by sanders is that Americans don’t vote because of their jobs, which keep them away from the polls. So giving them a day off releases them from the tyranny of their jobs so they can vote.

And the fervent hops sanders has is that these job-free Americans will vote for the party that has killed more American jobs, and released more Americans from the tyranny of their jobs, than any economic force in US history, so that sanders and his job-killing co-conspirators can kill off the jobs of the very voters whose support they want.

For more than 90 million Americans, sanders and the job killers of his ilk, every day is a holiday, so we should have been seeing at least that many voters. So maybe bernie is avoiding the obvious conclusion.

[cripplecreek]

I can think of a million ways to increase turnout.

I can’t think of a reason why we should.

[Salgak]

If it’s a holiday, then there is ZERO need for Early Voting or Mail-in voting. . .

[JLAGRAYFOX]

Look........there is only one reason the voter turnout was low...and, that is because millions of African-Americans & Hispanic-Americans disgusted by Obama...sat on their hands and stayed home, not voting!!! Shucks....the Democrats could not even steal elections by cheating....there was nowhere to pull bogus votes from!!! Actually, it is even worse....because many industrial labor union folks went against their leaders and either voted Republican or stayed home. Obama is hated throughout the country!!! If the Democrat Party had any street smarts at all they would broom him right now by forcing him to resign the POTUS!!! They will not do that...so, they will diminish even more during the next election!!!

[kkalman]

Lot of countries hold their general elections on Sundays.

[DoughtyOne]

So many on the Left don't even work.  I'm sure they need a day off to get to the polls.

Ask yourself, in your whole life has there ever been an election day when you couldn't get to the polls or vote by absentee ballot?

Didn't think so...

Hmm:

Regular 07:00 am to 08:00 pm isn't good enough
Absentee ballots didn't fix it
Voting early didn't cover it
Same day registration didn't cover it
Provisional ballots didn't cover it

Now, a national holiday is the only thing left that will fix it?

Next, "Can't we just text our vote in?"

Don't laugh.  You know it's coming.


Ramirez's latest political cartoon LARGE VERSION 11/07/2014: LINK  LINK to regular sized version of Ramirez's latest, and an archive of his political cartoons.
In this political cartoon, Ramirez presents, "His Policies Were On the Ballot"

Election Results: LINK        Animated Photos: LINK        Ayam Cemani chickens: LINK  

FReepers, 44% of the FReepathon goal has been met.  Please click above and pencil in your donation now.  Please folks, lets pick up the pace and end this FReepathon.  Thank you.
...this is a general all purpose message, and should not be seen as targeting any individual I am responding to...

[Viennacon]

Sanders is as insane as ever

[ProtectOurFreedom]

C’mon, Bernie, we can do better than that:
1. Voting is compulsory under threat of imprisonment (2015)
2. Under threat of death (2017)
3. You are required to vote for Supremo Leader (2019)
4. Your government will cast your vote for you for the “correct” government-approved candidate (2021)

[C210N]

with the biggest drop-off among ... young people...

Used to be many more polls inside schools, with schools in session. I recall the morning "lineup" in the gym kind of in the corner, as we shared the area with the polls.

This promoted an awareness of civic responsibilities, with adults, parents, teachers - interaction with kindergartners thru 6th grade.

Maybe the left wants students to be cut-off from adult/parent models for voting, where it is now mostly solely what teachers have to say about it.

[SatinDoll]

Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! People do not vote because they believe their votes do not matter.

My nephew did not vote this time around. Why? Because what he cared about, no gun control in Washington state, was going to be implemented through election fraud in King County by Democrats. That is where Seattle is located.

So, the rest of the state voted down I-591 and I-594 but it passed with a huge margin in those areas surrounding Puget Sound. We can thank the communists controlling the Unions for that anti-American achievement.