Do you know that since 1845, Americans have been casting their votes only on Tuesdays that come after the first Monday in November? While any day can be chosen for voting, why were Tuesdays selected for presidential and congressional elections in the United States? If you have the same question in mind, then read on to know the real reason behind holding elections in America only on designated Tuesdays.
In 1845 when the American society was majorly agrarian, Wednesday used to be the market day for farmers. Farmers used to travel through buggies or horses. It generally used to take two days to travel back and forth when they needed to go to markets. They also did not want to disturb their worship schedule for three days. Thus, people required at least three days if they also had to cast their votes. This is because of the need for a full day to come to a county seat, another day to cast their vote, and one more day to go back to their places for completing their three-day worship schedule.
Thus, calculations left only two days, Tuesday and Wednesday, when votes could be cast without disturbing people’s worship time. However, Wednesday was not chosen as the voting day due to it being the market day for a majority of people. That is how Tuesday was selected for holding elections in the country. Apart from that, the month of November was also finalized for elections. This was again done to make it convenient for farmers and people staying in rural places.
Usually, harvesting time used to be over by this month and weather also used to be comfortable for travel purposes. Therefore, the chosen day and month suited people’s requirements in the best manner. That is how Americans still carry on that tradition of voting on Tuesdays.
