WASHINGTON: Americans will be choosing their 47th president on Nov 5 – which is the first Tuesday of November.
It may seem a coincidence but actually it is not so.
According to constitution of the United States, Tuesday after the first Monday of November after every four years will be the day of presidential election in every state and territory of the US.
This act of casting ballots on the first Tuesday of November is a tradition that dates back almost two centuries.
The story of voting on first Tuesday in November is worth perusing.
Almost 179 years ago, all states in the US had the time of 34 days to vote for the president before the first Wednesday of December of election year. But this gave rise to certain concerns.
One of the major concerns was the ‘voter fraud’ which was enabled by the practice of states holding presidential elections on different days.
In 1844, voting occurred in different states from Nov 1 to Dec 4. The floaters crossed their state boundaries to vote in another state for their desired candidates after voting in their own states.
“Floaters” or “Repeaters” were those voters who altered their appearances (by changing clothes or otherwise) to vote many times. It was possible because at that time voter registration was not needed.
This practice was also named “pipe-laying” because floaters were instructed by their handlers that if someone challenged them, they must tell them they were in another state to lay pipes.
It was also a matter of concern that the states in which elections were held early could definitely influence the opinions of those states that voted later.
These concerns were taken by Congress seriously and it decided to pick a fixed date to hold the general elections in all states simultaneously.
In 1845 a law was passed to set a single election day. The societal norms and public practices were also considered while legislating for the common day of election.
WHY NOVEMBER?
History tells us that a majority of Americans were farmers at that time. Spring was a season of plantation for them and in summers they had to work in fields also.
The US economy was largely agrarian and November was the month when harvest was over and the weather was relatively mild. So, election day fell in November.
After summer had gone and before the arrival of harsh winters, November was the best choice.
WHY TUESDAY?
The polling stations were far away from the rural settlements. The lawmakers also took the travel days of public into account.
Sundays were ruled out as Americans devoted their weekends for church and Wednesdays were also important market days for farmers.
Therefore, Congress settled on first Tuesday following the Monday in November. It allowed people to travel a day before the polls.
There were no motorcars at that time and it was time-consuming for the people to travel.
This is the reason that for the last 179 years Americans are casting their votes on first Tuesday in November of the election year.
It is interesting to note that farmers now make less than 2pc of US voters’ population but the practice is still being practiced.
