Declare Election Day a National Observance

At the core of our democracy is our right to vote, to have a say in our future. However, voter turnout has always been devastatingly low. In the 2016 election, only 56.5 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot. In 2012, the number was 57.5 percent. One key cause of low turnout is that people do not have the time to vote. It can take an hour or more to wait in line at the polls, and many Americans simply cannot afford to take this time off, and therefore lose their chance to vote. If Election Day were a national observance, people could get the day off work, which would increase access to voting nationwide. For this reason, We the People petition the Federal Government to declare Election Day a national observance in order to ensure that all Americans have a voice in our democracy.