History of Election Day: What is the history behind why we vote on a Tuesday in November in the US?

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HISTORY OF ELECTION DAY

Why does the U.S. vote on a Tuesday in November?

Historically, the United States was an agrarian society, where much of the calendar revolved around farming. In 1840, Congress set voting day on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November.

This time provided a convenient month for farmers, who needed to travel perhaps overnight to the county seat’s polling places following the Autumn harvest season. The weather would not have turned bad enough to make rural roads impassable.

Election Day Travel

Rural Americans would begin their trip on Monday rather than Sunday, lest their travel interfere with Sunday worship services. It had to be on a Tuesday following the first Monday to not fall on November 1st, the All Saints’ Day holiday. Additionally, the first day of the month was when accounting books were brought up to date.

While Election Day is a federal holiday, it is observed only by government holidays in the capital of Washington, D.C., and those counties bordering it in Virginia and Maryland. However, it is not otherwise a work holiday, though more than 2,000 companies have pledged to give employees paid time off through the non-partisan coalition Time To Vote.

Who Do We Vote For on Election Day?

Every four years, we vote for the President of the United States. The off-year elections – outside Presidential elections – include gubernatorial and state legislative elections in a few states (including for those arising from death or vacancies), as well as numerous citizen initiatives races and various other local offices on the ballot.

Election Day Restrictions

Voting in America was initially limited to citizens who were free, white, male, and landowners.

• In 1856, Congress removed the landowner restriction.

• In 1870, Congress passed the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, allowing African Americans and other non-white men to vote, though this was restricted in parts of the South (and North) until the 1960s. In 1924, Congress granted Native Americans the right to vote, though some states banned this until the 1940s.

• 

  Former New York Gov. Alfred Smith welcomes Carrie Chapman Catt, women’s suffrage leader. Image: USA Today

  In 1920, the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote, ratified 100 years ago. However, the first woman to run for President was Victoria Woodhull, who ran in 1872, almost 50 years before women could vote. Since then, over 200 women have run for President, although until 2016, they have only been from minor political parties.

American Election Day Voting Methodologies:

Early National Period Voting

Oral voting

During the first 50 years of elections in the U.S., voters were allowed to vote at the local courthouse aloud.

Vive voce, or “oral voting,” persisted in some parts of the country until 1891.

Voter validation was done by having the voter place his hand upon a Bible, identify themselves, and swear that they hadn’t voted already.

19th Century Voting

Regular Democratic Ticket, 1884. Image: FastCompany

Paper ballots appeared in the early 19th century in the U.S., often printed by newspapers. Without standardization, the voter would write the candidates’ names on the slip of paper and drop it in the ballot box.

In the later 19th century, political parties preprinted what looked like train “tickets” with only their candidates on them so that voters could vote “party line.” Of course, allegations of voting fraud emerged, and a different ballot was introduced in 1888 by New York and Massachusetts.

20th Century Voting

Voting Machine

In the early 20th century, voting machines were installed in local town halls where voters could pull a lever to pick their candidate.

However, as the “ballot” became more involved, the logic of counting the selected candidates became more complex. The fact that they were mechanical and electrical monstrosities meant miscounts were difficult for election officials to detect.

1960s Voting

Votomatic vote recorder. Image: Smithsonian National Museum of American History

In the 1960s, the punch card was introduced to voting by IBM so that computers could count votes and give much faster results. This “IBM card” was based on an invention by Herman Hollerith, who taught mechanical engineering at MIT.

Hollerith was experimenting with punched cards and electromechanical tabulation of data. He eventually worked for the U.S. Census Bureau, where his Electric Tabulating System was used in the 1890 US Census.

The Hollerith punch card was the same size and shape as the paper currency used then, and would fit easily into a wallet. Hollerith’s method was used in the census of 11 other countries worldwide. He founded a company called the Tabulating Machine Company. In 1924, it was renamed International Business Machines (IBM).

Herman Hollerith and US Census. Cover of  Scientific American Invention. August 30, 1890. Image: Britannica.com

Hollerith’s original card was 12 rows and 24 columns. It later evolved to 12 rows and 80 columns. Now you know why your Microsoft Word document defaults to 80 characters across.

Hollerith punched card. Image: Wikipedia

I learned how to program computers with Hollerith’s IBM punch cards in the mid-1970s.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
billpetro.com