Why Is Election Day a Held on a Tuesday in November?

  
Before then, states were allowed to hold elections any time they pleased within a 34-day period be-
fore the first Wednesday in December, but this system had a few crucial flaws. Knowing the early
voting results could affect turnout and sway opinion in states that held late elections, and those
same last-minute voters could potentially decide the outcome of the entire election. Faced with
these issues, Congress created the current Election Day in the hope of streamlining the voting
process.
But why a Tuesday in November? The answer stems from the agrarian makeup of 19th-century
America. In the 1800s, most citizens worked as farmers and lived far from their polling place. Since
people often traveled for at least a day to vote, lawmakers needed to allow a two-day window for
Election Day. Weekends were impractical, since most people spent Sundays in church, and
Wednesday was market day for farmers. 
With this in mind, Tuesday was selected as the first and most convenient day of the week to hold
elections. Farm culture also explains why Election Day always falls in November. Spring and early
summer elections were thought to interfere with the planting season, and late summer and early fall
elections overlapped with the harvest. That left the late fall month of November—after the harvest
was complete, but before the arrival of harsh winter weather—as the best choice.
Election Day is a civic holiday in several states including Delaware, Hawaii, New York, New Jer-
sey, and the territory of Puerto Rico. Many have called for Election Day to become a federal holi-
day, so people can take time to vote without missing work. Other proposals to boost
voter turnout include having elections take place over several days or allowing voting to take
place by mail or computers. 
In many countries, a newly elected leader takes power within a couple of weeks or—as in the case
of Great Britain—even the day following an election. In the United States, though, more than 11
weeks can pass between Election and Inauguration Days in order to give an incoming president
time to choose a cabinet and plan for a new administration. The result is a lengthy lame-duck pe-
riod, but it used to be even longer.
The Congress of the Confederation set March 4, 1789, as the date “for commencing proceedings” of
the new government established by the U.S. Constitution. While a particularly bad winter delayed
the inauguration of George Washington by eight weeks, subsequent incoming presidents and vice
presidents took their oaths of office on March 4. 
 
The four-month gap was needed in part because of the time it took to count and report votes and to
travel to the nation’s capital. However, the lengthy lame-duck period caused problems such as in
the aftermath of the 1860 election when seven states left the Union during the long “Secession Win-
ter.” President-elect Abraham Lincoln had no power to act, and outgoing President James
Buchanan took no action, leaving the issue for his successor.
As technological advances greatly reduced the times to tabulate votes, report the results, and travel,
such a long lame-duck period was no longer logistically necessary. As a result, the 20th Amend-
ment, which was ratified on January 23, 1933, moved up Inauguration Day to January 20 and the
first meeting of the new Congress to January 3. 
The 20th Amendment didn’t take effect until October 1933, after the long lame-duck period once
again proved problematic. With the U.S. in the throes of the Great Depression, incoming Presi-
dent Franklin D. Roosevelt had to wait four months to implement his New Deal while uncertainty
further roiled financial markets. January 20 first served as Inauguration Day in 1937 when Roo-
sevelt was sworn in for a second term. (On years when January 20 is a Sunday, a private swearing-
in ceremony occurs with the public oath of office taken on January 21.)
 
II. Decide if the following statements are true or false:
1. One day for elections all over the US was established in order to prevent voters from being influ-
enced by results in other states.
2. They chose a Tuesday to let farmers going to Wednesday markets connect these two trips.
3. November was the best time not to interfere with farming duties.
4. The long period between elections and taking power is because the first presidents had to take
care of their lame ducks.
5. The Great Depression was the reason for the 20th Amendment not taking effect in 1933.