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Comment by smileysteve | Hacker News Reader

> 1. Election on a Sunday

No more weekend vacations?

Allow early voting. Isn't early voting a thing?

Most democracies I hope have both: Election Day is sunday/holiday and early/absentee voting is free without any particular reason.

Why not have all of it? What’s the “cost”?

Many states already have weekend (and weekday) early voting. So, I ask, what is the change?

Why will changing 1 of 3 weeks + 1 day of days significantly change voter turnout?

Again, most advanced democracies simply tick all boxes. Why? Because if a proposal is made that would increase turnout or make it easier to vote, you shouldn’t be able to come out against it without looking like you are protecting your own interests (and no one should survive that politically in this context). So:

- auto registration

- unrestricted early/absentee voting

- official Election Day on weekend or made public holiday.

It’s not that hard. As for your question “will it significantly change?” - I’m not sure. But it won’t make it worse and it will at least give an impression that someone is trying to make it easier to vote. Significant improvement shouldn’t even be necessary in this case. Just improvement or even percieved improvement (democracy is as much about a feeling of empowerment as it is actual empowerment).

In my state (GA), early voting is a thing, and is available multiple weekends (and weekdays) before the election.

But if early voting on Sundays is a thing already, how does moving election day from Tuesday to Sunday change turnout?

Elections don't happen every week, and early voting exists.

What is the positive effect on turnout of moving election day from Tuesday to Sunday if early voting [on days including Sunday] already exists?

It really seems like semantics that don't actually solve the problem. Weekend voting increase turnout, despite me traveling weekends (and now early voting) : different than Tuesdays increasing traveler's turnout and non travelers early voting on the weekend

I was countering the "weekend vacations are ruined". Those who want to go on a weekend vacation around voting day can elect to vote early, along the other planning a vacation requires.

Make it a day off and it certainly won’t make it worse. Think Sunday’s are a bad idea? Then keep Tuesday and make it a holiday.

Elections every Sunday might be a bit much.

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