Should Election Day be a Paid Holiday?

Election Day doesn't have to be a hot-button political issue at the office. Voting is a key American right for anyone over the age of 18. An initiative by one Seattle woman wants to take the stigma out of missing work to vote with a unique concept of a paid holiday during the prominent day in early November.

Statistics

A survey by Pew Research indicates 35 percent of registered nonvoters said they were too busy to vote on Election Day. Other obligations, such as work, school or children, got in the way of showing up at the polls. Noah Fradian of Seattle noticed these statistics, so he formed the advocacy group Take Tuesday in June 2016. His movement to make Election Day a paid holiday with companies gained traction very quickly.

Forward-Thinkers

Fradin urges private companies to add paid time off so employees can engage in the democratic process of casting votes. He believes employees shouldn't have to worry about sacrificing hourly wages to decide if they can vote. Companies may even consider an Election Day holiday as a recruiting tool to help retain millennials in the workplace. Employers that offer a better work-life balance to younger works show they think progressively and care about the well-being of workers.

Pledges

As of August 2016, just two months into the existence of Take Tuesday, more than 100 companies across the United States pledged to give workers time off to vote in November. Some of these firms include Casper, Thrillist Media and DataXu. These companies decided to make Election Day a holiday for every employee in those businesses. Take Tuesday uses a nonpartisan stance to encourage everyone to vote, as some politicians and lawmakers from both major political parties, including President Barack Obama, support creating this new national holiday.

Ultimate Goal

The ultimate goal of making the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November a holiday is to affect the outcome of an election. If statistics at the polls show more people voting because they have time off, then the advocacy organization proves it makes a difference. The organization understands that changing the hearts and minds of the private sector occurs one company at a time as opposed to going to Washington to campaign for the holiday through Congress. Fradin said that if Take Tuesday enables one extra person to vote, the group accomplishes its mission no matter if it's because another company agreed to offer paid time off or if the group encouraged more discussions about the democratic process at the office.

Companies should be able to offer this kind of time off to its workers as a recruiting tool. Job seekers who want this kind of benefit should ask about it up front. Election Day is a vital part of the American process, and it only occurs once every two years. Workers shouldn't have to make a tough decision about casting votes or earning money, even with the rise of absentee ballots and mail-in votes.

Photo courtesy of Theresa Thompson at Flickr.com