Should Election Day be a national holiday?
Yes
Michael Bennet (Dropped out)
U.S. senator, Colorado
Bennet is no longer running for president. Bennet supports an Election Day holiday, he told The Post.
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Cory Booker (Dropped out)
U.S. senator, New Jersey
Booker is no longer running for president. "Voting is one of our most sacred duties and hard fought rights and Election Day should be recognized as a federal holiday,” Booker told The Post.
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Steve Bullock (Dropped out)
Governor, Montana
Bullock is no longer running for president. Bullock supports an Election Day holiday, he told The Post.
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Pete Buttigieg (Dropped out)
Former mayor, South Bend, Ind.
Buttigieg is no longer running for president. Buttigieg has backed the For the People Act of 2019, also know as H.R. 1, which included a provision making Election Day a federal holiday when it was introduced. “Pete also supports other provisions to ensure full access for people with disabilities and low-income people that may not be provided by a holiday,” a campaign spokesman told The Post.
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Julian Castro (Dropped out)
Former mayor, San Antonio
Castro is no longer running for president. Castro tweeted support for a variety of voting changes in March.
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John Delaney (Dropped out)
Former U.S. representative, Maryland
Delaney is no longer running for president. "In Congress, I introduced Open Our Democracy Act, which, in addition to creating an independent redistricting commission, would make Election Day a federal holiday," Delaney told The Post.
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Bill de Blasio (Dropped out)
Mayor, New York City
de Blasio is no longer running for president. De Blasio supports an Election Day holiday, his campaign told The Post.
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Tulsi Gabbard (Dropped out)
U.S. representative, Hawaii
Gabbard is no longer running for president. Gabbard co-sponsored the For the People Act of 2019, also know as H.R. 1, which included a provision making Election Day a federal holiday when it was introduced.
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Kirsten Gillibrand (Dropped out)
U.S. senator, New York
Gillibrand is no longer running for president. "Let's make Election Day a federal holiday so you don't have to take time off work to exercise your rights," Gillibrand wrote on Instagram, backing the For the People Act of 2019, also know as H.R. 1.
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Kamala D. Harris (Dropped out)
U.S. senator, California
Feb. 19: “There is no question that Election Day should be a national holiday.”
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John Hickenlooper (Dropped out)
Former governor, Colorado
Hickenlooper is no longer running for president. Hickenlooper supports an Election Day holiday, he told The Post.
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Jay Inslee (Dropped out)
Governor, Washington state
Inslee is no longer running for president. "Republican national voter suppression efforts, which has degraded voter turnout in communities of color across the country, illustrates the necessity of national mail-in paper ballots, mailed to voters 3+ weeks before Election Day," Inslee told The Post. "My state has adopted automatic voter registration, all mail-in paper ballot voting, with pre-paid postage, and it is a model for the country."
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Amy Klobuchar (Dropped out)
U.S. senator, Minnesota
Klobuchar is no longer running for president. Klobuchar expressed support for the For the People Act of 2019, also know as H.R. 1, which included a provision making Election Day a federal holiday when it was introduced.
Mar. 8: “The House did its job, and now it's the Senate's turn.”
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Seth Moulton (Dropped out)
U.S. representative, Massachusetts
Moulton is no longer running for president. Moulton co-sponsored the For the People Act of 2019, also know as H.R. 1, which included a provision making Election Day a federal holiday when it was introduced.
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Beto O'Rourke (Dropped out)
Former U.S. representative, Texas
O'Rourke is no longer running for president. O'Rourke's voting rights plan included a commitment to “call on Congress to establish a National Voting Day holiday,” expanded vote-by-mail and early voting and polling stations placed at “grand, iconic locations.”
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Deval Patrick (Dropped out)
Former governor, Massachusetts
Patrick is no longer running for president. “The Patrick administration will work with Congress to push to make Election Day a federal holiday,” his democracy agenda said.
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Tim Ryan (Dropped out)
U.S. representative, Ohio
Ryan is no longer running for president. Ryan co-sponsored the For the People Act of 2019, also know as H.R. 1, which included a provision making Election Day a federal holiday when it was introduced.
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Bernie Sanders (Dropped out)
U.S. senator, Vermont
Sanders is no longer running for president. Sanders introduced the Democracy Day Act of 2015 to make Election Day a national holiday.
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Joe Sestak (Dropped out)
Former U.S. representative, Pennsylvania
Sestak is no longer running for president. Sestak supports an Election Day holiday, he told The Post.
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Tom Steyer (Dropped out)
Billionaire activist
Steyer is no longer running for president. Steyer supports an Election Day holiday, he told The Post.
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Eric Swalwell (Dropped out)
U.S. representative, California
Swalwell is no longer running for president. “Yes, I support making Election Day a national federal holiday,” Swalwell told The Post. “And the nation should emulate California’s and other states’ successes with vote-by-mail and extended early voting.”
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Elizabeth Warren (Dropped out)
U.S. senator, Massachusetts
Warren is no longer running for president. "I also believe we need a constitutional amendment that protects the right to vote for every American citizen and to make sure that vote gets counted," Warren told The Post. "Election Day should be a holiday and voter registration should be automatic ... Early voting and vote by mail is necessary so no one has to choose between a paycheck or exercising their right to vote. "
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Marianne Williamson (Dropped out)
Author
Williamson is no longer running for president. Williamson calls for an Election Day holiday on her campaign website.
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Andrew Yang (Dropped out)
Tech entrepreneur
Yang is no longer running for president. In response to possible voting conveniences, such as an Election Day holiday, mail-in ballots and extended early voting, Yang told The Post, "Yes to all. It should be much easier to vote."
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Unclear/No response
Joe Biden
Former vice president
"We’ve got to make it easier — not harder — for Americans to exercise their right to vote, regardless of their zip code or the color of their skin, and make sure we count every voter’s voice equally," Biden's campaign site said. His campaign had not returned answers by May 7.
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Mike Bloomberg (Dropped out)
Former New York mayor
Bloomberg is no longer running for president. As mayor, Bloomberg “made it easier to register to vote, created a web- and video-based voter guide, and supported efforts to allow voting on weekends,” his campaign website said. His campaign did not clarify his position by publication.
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Background Democrats have called for Election Day to be a national holiday, to make it easier for those who cannot secure time off from work to vote. The United States is one of the few democracies to vote on a weekday. Sunday is the most common election day around the world, according to Victoria Shineman, an assistant professor in the University of Pittsburgh political science department.
The Post is sending detailed questionnaires to every Democratic candidate asking for their stances on various issues. See all the issues we’ve asked about so far.
See our other questions on changes to democracy:
- Do you support eliminating the electoral college in favor of the popular vote?
- Should Democrats eliminate the Senate filibuster the next time they control the chamber?
- Would you support adding justices to ‘pack’ the Supreme Court?
- Would you support term limits for Supreme Court justices?
- Should any individuals be able to vote while incarcerated?
- Should citizens be automatically registered to vote when they turn 18?
- Should Washington, D.C., be granted statehood?
- Should Puerto Rico be granted statehood?
- Should the voting age be lowered from 18 to 16?
How candidate positions were compiled
The Washington Post sent a detailed questionnaire to every Democratic campaign asking whether it supports various changes to the Senate filibuster, U.S. elections and courts. Candidates with similar stances were organized into groups using a combination of those answers, legislative records, action taken in an executive role and other public comments, such as policy discussion on campaign websites, social media posts, interviews, town hall meetings and other news reports. See something we missed? Let us know.
This page will update as we learn more about the candidates’ plans. We also will note if candidates change their position on an issue. At initial publication, this page included major candidates who had announced a run for president. If a candidate dropped out after a question was published here, their stance is included under the "Show former candidates" option. If they dropped out before a question was first published, the Post did not reach out to get their stance.
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Candidate illustrations by Ben Kirchner.