Much has been said, here and elsewhere, in the days approaching the election about the fact that America votes on a workday. But does it say that in the Constitution? Would it take a Constitutional amendment to change it? Nope. Just some legislators with the courage to make it happen.
Here’s what the Constitution actually says about Election Day:
The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.
So, the Framers left it open to the Congress to decide when it would happen. In 1845, a time when we were still an agrarian society, Congress chose Tuesday, so we could hitch up the wagon and drive, or walk, to the county seat, vote, and be back home for the traditional market day on Wednesday. In fact, George Washington was elected on January 7, 1789, a Wednesday, and was sworn in on April 30.
Congress has enacted legislation requiring that presidential elections (the selection of electors) occur on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November every four years. Electors gather to vote on the Monday after the second Wednesday in December. The two houses of Congress convene to count the electoral ballots on the following January 6.
So, unless I’m missing something important here, it would be a simple vote of Congress to change it to the weekend, perhaps Saturday, or even make Election Day a federal holiday. But I believe the last thing the political establishment wants is everybody voting. Tuesday voting, while engrained in our American tradition for 170 years, amounts to nothing more than government-sponsored voter suppression, and something that could easily be changed, if we actually had a functioning government that was invested in the best interests of the People and not their own political careers.