[EL] EL more news 1/12/12 Weekend Voting Report

[Bill Maurer]

I laughed out loud at your description of Mario Biaggi, but I would add that another reason he is not lamented is that I think he's not dead quite yet.

Bill

From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Curtis Gans
Sent: Thursday, January 12, 2012 3:59 PM
To: law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
Subject: Re: [EL] EL more news 1/12/12 Weekend Voting Report

I have been and am opposed to either weekend voting or making election day a holiday -- for four reasons. The late and probably only lamented by his family Rep. Mario Biaggi commissioned a Congressional Research Service study of turnout in other nations, That study found that in nations which didn't have compulsory voting, those who voted on weekdays had a slightly higher turnout than those which voted on weekends or holidays. The few states that have  or had Saturday voting -- Louisiana frequently, South Carolina for some elections (like next week's primary) and Santa Monica which tried it once, showed no increase in the level of turnout, If elections are held on a weekday, there are a few instruments of mobilization that aren't present on weekends and holidays -- teachers, employers, shop stewards to name a few. And finally, if the overwhelming body of evidence shows, as it does, that non-participation owes itseflf to lack of motivation (for a variety of reasons) rather than procedure, it is more likely that were elections held on weekends or a created holiday, potential voters would more like to go fishing rather than voting.

There are things that could be done to very modestly enhance turnout: 1. Every state should have New York's hours 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. or three hours on each side of the work day. 2. Vote centers at places of convenience as has been experimented with in Larimer County, Colorado and other places, could produce the ballot for the voter's precinct and thus making election day easier. 3. Every state could and should have the type of voter information pamphlets that western states and a few others have that give the biographies and self-ascribed issue positions of the candidates and the pros and cons of ballot propositions written by proponents and opponents. 4. We could develop a formula for the number of polling stations (machines, etc,) that would be necessary to handle a 60 percent of eligible turnout and eliminate long lines. These things are devoutly to be wished. Elections on weekend and holidays not so.
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