There’s a chill in the air, leaves are turning colors, and the election is looming in the distance. On the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, the federal election that decides our next president will be held. This is one of the most important days in America, because it decides the course of our nation over the next four years. This year, the election is held on Tuesday, Nov. 5th. But why are the guidelines for choosing the date so specific? Why are elections always on a Tuesday?
In 1845, a law was passed to set a single election date for the country. Before this, the dates varied by states. At the time, much of America was still agrarian and the labor force was mostly made of farmers. Farming was a very time consuming profession with much of the year taken up by planting, tending, and harvesting. November was the chosen month because the harvest was over, but the weather was still mild.
That explains why November was chosen, but why the specific day? Well at the time two days were absolutely out of the question. Christianity was much more prevalent, and thus Sunday was set aside as a day of rest and worship. The other day that was automatically set aside was Wednesday, as it was a market day where farmers sold their crops in towns. Of course, in 1845, there were no cars. Additionally, the polling location could be several miles away depending on location. Because of this, Monday and Thursday were disregarded because people couldn’t travel on the days before these. So, Tuesday was the best option.
That’s why the day is Tuesday, but why “the Tuesday after the first Monday”? This was to prevent it from falling on Nov. 1, or All Saints’ Day. Merchants also usually took the first day of the month to settle their books.
Now that you have all of this (useless) information, what are you going to do with it? Well frankly, most of you can’t do a thing besides watch the news on Election Day. But those of you who are over 18 years old, vote! Do you have a physics test that you didn’t study for? Do you have a feeling there’s going to be a pop quiz in Doc G’s class? Well use your constitutional right to get out of it, vote, and let your voice be heard.
