Why Tuesday? on Rocketboom
Wednesday, September 26th, 2007
Yesterday we launched our Candidate Challenge from Colonial Willaimsburg, Virginia. When we were there shooting, I got to spend some time picking the brain of our nation’s third president about the state of voting in America. But most of the interview didn’t make it into the final cut.
We’ve teamed up with Rocketboom, the New York Times of the video blog world, to bring you this special report: my interview with Thomas Jefferson in its entirety. Enjoy.
September 26th, 2007 at 5:04 pm
I do know “why Tuesday.”
Sunday was for church.
Monday could be spent traveling to your nearest polling place.
Tuesday was for voting.
There’s nothing wrong with Tuesday. I’m all for maintaining the Tuesday tradition- but it ought to be a national holiday.
Pending that legislation, employers can assist- they can give employees the day off if they vote, just like when they give blood.
September 28th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
That well done, cute, and pretty funny. Good work.
—
I’ve asked before but received no answer.
We have a system that gives the states considerable leeway in how they conduct their election. Many US states have experimented with 100% vote by mail, early voting, etc…
What evidence is there that changes like this will increase voter turnout in the US? As an organization that tries to shine more light on the ‘why Tuesday’ problem you ought to also discuss and present evidence that proposed solutions will help.
Consider this study:
http://electionupdates.caltech.edu/2007/09/new-resaerch-on-vote-by-mail-does.html
Abstract:
Would holding elections by mail increase voter turnout? Many electoral reform advocates predict that mail ballot elections will boost participation, basing their prediction on the high turnout rate among absentee voters and on the rise in voter turnout after Oregon switched to voting by mail. However, selection problems inherent to studies of absentee voters and Oregon give us important reasons to doubt whether their results would extend to more general applications of voting by mail. In this paper, we isolate the effects of voting in mail ballot elections by taking advantage of a natural experiment in which voters are assigned in a nearly random process to cast their ballots by mail. We use matching methods to ensure that, in our analysis, the demographic characteristics of these voters mirror those of polling-place voters who take part in the same elections. Drawing on data from a large sample of California counties in two general elections, we find that voting by mail does not deliver on the promise of greater participation in general elections. In fact, voters who are assigned to vote by mail turn out at lower rates than those who are sent to a polling place. Analysis of a sample of local special elections, by contrast, indicates that voting by mail can increase turnout in these otherwise low-participation contests.
September 28th, 2007 at 9:09 pm
More than happy to present any studies and/or evidence that’s out there about any and all means said to increase voter turnout and participation. As we come across information, we try our best to present it. In fact, just reading over a study about poll workers put out by electionline.org now. Look for a post about that soon. And if you want to bring something to our attention, contact us.