Election Day should be a national holiday

We set aside holidays to remember the people and events that shaped our country. We should also set aside time for the act that allows Americans to shape its future.

Election Day should be a national holiday.

Not a celebration of Republicans or Democrats. Not an endorsement of any candidate. A recognition that citizenship deserves space on the calendar—not simply whatever time remains after work, commuting, caregiving and the other demands of daily life.

We tell Americans that voting is a responsibility. We should organize our national life as though we mean it.

For someone with a flexible schedule, casting a ballot may be a manageable errand. For someone working an hourly shift, depending on a ride or caring for children, it can require a much more difficult arrangement. Equal voting rights do not automatically produce equally convenient opportunities to exercise them.

The scheduling problem is real. In its examination of the 2022 midterm election, the Census Bureau estimated that 9.9 million registered nonvoters cited being too busy or having a conflicting schedule as their reason for not voting. That does not prove a holiday would have brought them all to the polls. It does show that time is a meaningful barrier, not merely an excuse we can dismiss.

For a business publication, this is also an economic argument. Our companies operate within a system of laws, public infrastructure and institutions shaped by elected leaders. Employers and employees alike have a stake in how that system functions. Making room for participation should be viewed as part of maintaining it.

There is, however, an important limitation: declaring a federal holiday would not automatically guarantee paid time off for every private-sector worker. Federal wage law does not generally require employers to pay employees for holidays they do not work. A holiday without additional protections could leave many of the people facing the greatest scheduling difficulties exactly where they started.

That is why the holiday should be paired with protected, paid voting time for people who must remain on the job. Hospitals, utilities, emergency services and other essential operations cannot simply stop. Neither should their employees’ opportunity to vote.

Small businesses deserve practical consideration, too. Advance notice, staggered schedules and flexibility across available voting days should be part of the approach. The goal is meaningful access, not an unnecessary operational burden.

A holiday should also complement—not replace—early voting and lawful absentee options. Someone who cannot vote on Tuesday should not lose other opportunities because the country has placed a new label on that day.

Indiana can take a practical step of its own: keep the 6 a.m. opening and extend Election Day voting until 7 p.m. local time. The state’s official 2026 Election Day Handbook sets the current hours at 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. One additional evening hour would give people finishing work at 5 or 6 more opportunity to vote after their commute. It would not solve every shift conflict, but it would make the schedule more accommodating to working life.

That change should include funding for adequate staffing and relief shifts. Poll workers already face a long day; improving access should not mean expecting exhausted workers to absorb another hour without support.

To be clear, 7 p.m. is a recommendation, not the current rule. For the November 3, 2026 election, Indiana voters should plan to arrive before 6 p.m. local time. Voters already in line when the polls close must be allowed to vote.

Nor should we pretend a holiday would cure political division, eliminate misinformation or make every citizen participate. It would do something more modest and achievable: give voting a clearer place in our public priorities.

There is value in that shared recognition. We can disagree sharply about taxes, development, schools and national leadership while agreeing that our neighbors should have a fair opportunity to help make those decisions.

Employers should make time to vote available without asking employees how they intend to use their ballots. Citizenship is not a workplace loyalty test.

America does not need another shopping holiday dressed in patriotic advertising. It needs a civic holiday with a practical purpose.

We already celebrate our independence.

We should make time to exercise it.

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Opinion: recommendations and judgments are those of the Publisher.