NE Queens Pols Call for Election Day to Be Moved to a Weekend

Three elected officials representing northeast Queens at the state and federal level are calling for Election Day to be moved from a Tuesday to a weekend.

U.S. Rep. Steve Israel, D-Great Neck, has joined state Sen. Tony Avella, D-Bayside, and state Assemblyman Edward Braunstein, D-Bayside, in calling for Election Day from the first Tuesday to the weekend after the first Friday in November.

Israel said moving the day would make it more convenient for voters and increase voter turnout.

“Many eligible voters won’t exercise their right to vote due to the inconvenience of Election Day falling on a Tuesday,” Israel said. “Our democracy will be best served when our leaders are elected by as many Americans as possible.”

Congress initially decided in 1845 that voting on a Tuesday made sense because it made it easier for farmers to get to the polls.

“I know that many Americans will face obstacles getting to the polls, whether it be due to work schedules, family commitments or conflicts,” Avella said.

The Weekend Voting Act would allow for national polls to be open from 10 a.m. (Eastern time) on a Saturday to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Currently, most polls are only open 12 hours for one day. But Israel said many polling places keep voters waiting in line for more than two hours.

As a result, the United States ranks 138th out of 172 democracies in terms of voter turnout. In the 2012 election, only 57.5 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots.