Democracy Day (United States)

Democracy Day is the tentative name of a possible federal holiday in the United States, proposed by Democratic Representative John Conyers of Michigan.

Conyers' proposed the holiday in Resolution (H.R.) 63 - Democracy Day Act of 2005. The bill called for the Tuesday after the first Monday in November of every even-numbered year, Election Day, to be a legal public holiday. The purpose of the holiday was to increase voter turnout by giving citizens more time to vote, as well as to allow for the opening of more polling places with more workers while raising awareness of the importance of voting and civic participation.

The bill was referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in January 2005 and ultimately had 110 co-sponsors. The bill has since lapsed and would need to be reintroduced before the proposal could be reconsidered.

A companion resolution was introduced in the Senate on May 26, 2005 by Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan. It was co-sponsored by Democratic Senators Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Carl Levin of Michigan. The companion resolution did not leave the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and has now also lapsed.

The bill was recently reintroduced on Nov. 12, 2014 by independent Senator Bernie Sanders. It has not been enacted.

Other movements to enact the holiday are Election Holiday and Democracy Day @electiondayoff

See also

• Democracy Day in other countries
• Parliament Week (United Kingdom)

External links

• The status of the bill