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Opinion

Election holiday reason to celebrate

Nick Somarakis
Opinion Columnist

In the 2004 presidential election, President Bush won 50.8 percent of the vote. Only six out of ten eligible voters turned out and voted in the election, meaning Bush won re-election with just a little over three out of ten people. 

This kind of turnout in a presidential election is better than other U.S. elections in recent history, but it is still a poor showing for U.S. democracy. Since we are so proud of Iraq's first election, perhaps we should work on making our system more inclusive and encourage voting in our own country.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York, are introducing legislation called the ‘Count Every Vote Act' to increase voter turnout. The bill requires paper receipts for votes cast and authorizes $500 million to help states make the necessary changes to voting systems. The bill also allows for ex-felons to vote, which is already a practice in Texas.

The most important aspect of the bill, however, makes Election Day a federal holiday. The election holiday would help people who are unable to vote because of work and other reasons to join the process. 

The United States must be more vigorous in ensuring that our democracy remains strong and that the voice of the people, for the people and by the people does not go ignored. We should place more emphasis on the importance of voting and participating in politics. Making Election Day a holiday is a necessary step to increase voter turnout and participation.

A U.S. election holiday would be a day when we would celebrate the freedom that our forefathers fought and died for so long ago. It would place emphasis on participation in the election rather than encouraging people to vote as an afterthought, as something to do either after or before work.

In other countries, various measures are taken to ensure that citizens vote. Voting is mandatory in Australia. In Mexico, the sale of alcohol is prohibited during the entire weekend of voting. In Italy, which previously had compulsory voting, voting is considered a duty and averages an almost 90 percent turnout.

This country should place more importance on voting and participation to protect our democracy. An election holiday would help to prevent any president from being elected without a real majority vote of the people and on behalf of the people's desires and needs. 

Somarakis, an opinion columnist for The Daily Cougar, 
can be reached at nick_som1@hotmail.com