Why Tuesday?

November 1, 3:13 PMNY K-12 Education ExaminerTasha Davis

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Why Tuesday?

www.whytuesday.org

As voters across the nation prepare to hit the polls on Tuesday November 3, 2009 in order to vote on New York's next term Mayor and other issues that are on the ballot students have begun to question 'Why Tuesday?'.  The nationwide attention of the 2008 Presidential election has drawn an interest to politics across all age ranges, including those who had not previously paid much attention to the logistics of voting and more important for some critical thinkers, the logistics of why Tuesday has become the national voting day.  At times it takes a generation of young questioners to bring understanding to the mind of the older generation who has just become adept at following the guidelines of this antiquated Tuesday rule.  A group of students in Park Slope during the Presidential Election last November took on the task of answering the question 'Why Tuesday' and used their local paper The Eagle to find the answers they were seeking.

In 1845, before Florida, California, and Texas were states or slavery had been abolished, Congress needed to pick a time for Americans to vote. We were an agrarian society and traveled by horse and buggy.
Farmers needed a day to get to the county seat, a day to vote, and a day to get back, without interfering with the three days of worship. So that left Tuesday and Wednesday, but Wednesday was market day.
So, Tuesday it was.

In 1875 Congress extended the Tuesday date for national House elections and in 1914 for federal Senate elections. As many traditions that have stuck over the years this is one that no longer applies to modern society, yet we continue to carry it as if it does. 

So, this Tuesday as you hit the polls take your children with you, explain to them all the logistics of the voting process, clarify that what happens in the polling booth stays in the polling booth. For some of the older students explain your pick to them and why you went with this candidate.  Clarify the issues they stand on and how that aligns with the issues you stand on. This year you will be equipped to answer all the questions they throw at you during their inquisition of the voting process, including 'Why Tuesday?'.