At least half a dozen entertainment companies are giving their employees some, or all, of the day off Nov. 8 to assure they have time to vote, and maybe to spend a little time massaging their worry beads.
Friday, November 04, 2016
Hollywood Gives Time Off for Tuesday Election Voting
At least half a dozen entertainment companies are giving their employees some, or all, of the day off Nov. 8 to assure they have time to vote, and maybe to spend a little time massaging their worry beads.
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It’s amazing that some companies give time off for their employees to vote. We are very lucky to live in a place where we can vote and it’s horrible that people miss out on the opportunity.I have heard that only 60% on the eligible voters vote. If part of the problem is that people can’t get to their polling site, we need to come up with a way to make it easier for them to vote. Though we could make voting mandatory, which I personally don’t think we should (I think people should vote because they want to execute their right to, not because they are forced to) I think an app where you can vote on your smartphone or computer would be a great option. Almost everyone has access to a smartphone or computer. This would eliminate the long lines and make it so people don’t have to go to a specific location. I’m sure that someone in the tech world is already working on this technology and I hope that they find an effective solution. I can’t help but see the benefits, not just for the United States but for other people in countries around the world. Nevertheless, it's great that companies are trying to make it easier for its employees to vote and exercise their constitutional right.
This is great. Election Day should absolutely be a national holiday to ensure that as many people as possible are able to participate without excuses. Let’s make it a national holiday dedicated to civic engagement in all its forms. I’d happily give up Columbus Day, useless and insulting as it is, as a trade.
In fact, I’d go one step further. Once the holiday is in place, it would be worth considering a compulsory voting system similar to what is in place in Australia where the fine for not voting is $26. I do understand the argument that compulsory voting could be considered a “compelled speech act” and therefore a violation of free speech (you have to have the freedom to NOT speak,) but I think that could be overcome by allowing a ‘no vote’ option on the ballot. You don’t have to “speak” but you have to show up. Perhaps reframing voting as a nationally endorsed duty instead of just a right would increase participation.
I'm going to agree with Rachel on this one. Election day should be a national holiday. What better way to commemorate out long and rich history as a republic that with relaxation and celebration? School children get the day off for George Washington's birthday, but we, as a nation, do not have an official outlet to commemorate the unique and momentous (and LONG) struggle that gave us universal suffrage. I think the establishment of such a holiday would drive home a message of appreciation to future generations.
Anyhow, rant over. I guess the second-best alternative to having an official holiday is for employers to voluntarily give their employees the day off when it comes time to cast ballots. I applaud these Hollywood heavyweights for setting an example for the rest of the entertainment industry (and the rest of the nation, honestly).
My favorite part of this article is that it’s not subjective – the mentioned startup Take Tuesday is not trying to sway the election towards the right or the left; rather, its message is to get voters out to vote during a controversial election in order to truly elect the voice that the people want for our country. This is something that is especially amazing about going out to promote voter turnout; I was helping out the Clinton campaign once and I was originally nervous about asking people to register to vote; however, it was heavily emphasized that we would register anyone, even republicans, because the idea was the same as the one in this article: a representative vote is better than no vote at all. It’s truly remarkable that in an election with so much hateful rhetoric and so much on the line, we can still sit back and be inclusive of everyone regardless of opinion/side. It is great that Hollywood has allowed for time off for the election, but the title of this article is a little misleading because it does heavily emphasize the ability of startups/overall companies and universities to be more accepting of allowing people to vote. The article is heavily focused on Fradin’s message of giving everyone a chance, a message that is much more impactful than just the fact that Hollywood is participating; I hope that other sites that reported on Fradin’s startup provided more fitting article titles.
Weekend voting instead of weekday voting, that would be an interesting change. Would that bring more people to the polls? Or would it diminish the numbers? I never thought that people would not vote because they couldn’t because of work. I am not one to be involved with politics and all those details, I have never really put much thought in it because I just don’t care for all the fighting and frustration that comes with all those opinions. Maybe I should be more involved than I am now but we are all entitled to have our own likes and dislikes and I don’t like to get in the middle of political debates. I think that moving voting to weekends would help with turnout but I wonder if that would bring about problems with travels and people not being in their hometown to vote because it is the weekend. This also really only comes about every four years when the president is voted in rather than the smaller specific state seats. But good for those companies to give off time on Tuesday for people to go out and vote who wouldn’t normally because they didn’t have time in the day.
I think this is a tremendous idea. Just the other day I was trying to plan out my Tuesday to make sure that I could get to the polls. Now perhaps more than ever it is critical that everyone exercises their right to vote. I'm interested to see how many more people would vote if there was time given to them to go vote. I hope that this turns into a trend or even rule of sorts. As far as why we vote on Tuesday, I'm not sure where that came from. Moving voting from a weekday to a weekend could have benefits. Weekdays are generally regarded as workdays, and it can be difficult to get away from work even for something as important as voting. Moving from a Tuesday to a slower workday would (I would assume) bring up the number of voters even by just a little.
I am surprised that Voting Day is not a National Holiday at this point. I am glad that this decision has been made though in Hollywood, especially with how big and important this election is. The next president has so many major decisions and can truly change the direction that the United States will head in. People exercising their voting right is also something that has become a major problem because people take advantage of this right and no longer use it how they should. If people were given the day off, not having enough time would no longer be a good excuse, let alone an excuse at all. I do think that moving the voting day to either Saturday or Sunday would be beneficial due to the amount of people in the country that have this day off. Tuesday is hard because people are just starting to get into the week and get their workload, so taking time to stop and vote can be difficult. But voting is so important that people should be willing to stop and take the time, but they should also be given the time.
I think that is great especially in our entertainment community. Our community is made up of so many different people with different backgrounds and identities that it really is important to get the entertainment community out and voting. This will be my first time voting and I can easily see the push for young college students to vote, but I haven't really seen any emphasis put on making it easier for working adults out there and voting. I think that Noah Fradin's work to make it easier for everyone (especially the working class entertainment population) to vote. Our discipline is very time consuming and demanding and a lot of times that stops us from living the rest of our lives, but if there is one thing that our community should collectively acknowledge is our right to vote. Not only are we a diverse group, we are people that study and recreate other people's stories or circumstances. Because of that, I think that we have a different outlook on society as a whole and I feel that that can be a really great tool when deciding who deserves to run this country.
YES YES YES!! I have heard from many people that they could not vote because they had work and the times did not work out. With companies like this, more people will get the opportunity to vote in the election. I believe that more companies need to do this. This gives no one an excuse not to vote. Everyone should have the right to vote, and not having the time to vote is a shame on this country. Hopefully in the future it will become a national holiday so more people could have the time to vote.
Good, I am so glad this is happening. I am SICK of voting being difficult. And I would say, ask to vote absentee or vote early, but even that is difficult. Especially where I'm from, Texas, they make it incredibly difficult to vote in any sense. They are crazy about voter ID, and so even if you came during your lunch break or whatever it may be, you may need to sort out whatever hoops the government is trying to put you through. This week, my mom was at the early voting polls and a woman was turned away because her driver's license didn't exactly match up with her new residence. She also happened to be a woman of color. And sort of unrelated, but I didn't get my absentee ballot for two weeks! And I only got it after I called- then I got it two days after! As if they only sent it when I called. Is it because I'm a registered Democrat in Texas?? Probably. Anyway... I'm just trying to highlight that its good that companies and higher up places are taking note that its not due to peoples' lack of trying to vote, its due to the inaccessibility and government constraints of voting.
It seems to me that if companies can help out in any way with the difficulty of voting, that's good. I want our country to vote more, and to be able to vote more. If more people could they would! I hope smaller and less white-collar companies follow this trend, letting employees at many levels vote, too.
This is really cool! I am all for this. Infact I think that it should be mandatory like Noah Fradin says, because even on the weekends a lot of people work and have children that need to be taken care of. Voting should never be a hassle, which is hard to think about since it is such a privilege, but I know for a fact that working hours have been used to keep lower class people that I know from voting. When it is as important as the President of the United States who reigns for four years at a time, we should ensure that EVERYONE can vote. I agree with Noah Fradin that we are influential, which we learn about all the time in regards to what we put on the stage and who our intended audience will be. But we aren’t just art, theatre is a business. And what if we practice what we preach.
I have to say that it kind of makes me upset that this article even exists. It personally does not make any sense to me and I don’t understand why the day that this country elects our president is not a national holiday. American voters should not have to decide whether they are going to go to work on time or leave early or not go to work at all against whether they want to vote. We are fortunate in so many ways I have the right To vote and It is foolish to me that right is limited because voters might not have time to go to the polls. I honestly believe that there are a lot of voters who will not vote because they cannot find time on this one day every four years to take off work. There is a huge push right now to get everyone to vote, and it is stupid that there is not a national holiday to give people that time.
It is great to hear that big corporations are taking the time to give employees half-days or full days off to get out and vote. Voting remains an essential element of our democratic process. I'm sure that they've decided to do this because they truly know what is at stake. One thing I found interesting with this article is not the article itself but some other comments about it. I think some people forget that there is a myriad of opportunities to vote. You don't have to do it Next Tuesday. You can mail in the ballot and do early voting in most states, you can also absentee ballot if you need to in all 50 states. While this may be something nice for companies to do, they certainly shouldn't need to do it. We have enough federal holidays that hinder workplace productivity. If it is a possibility, sure, why not? But having the day off certainly shouldn't be a requirement that forces companies into halting business so someone can check a box on a paper that they could do in advance. Where does personal civic responsibility come into play?
I find it irritating that I country that continuously wishes to high light it democratic process feels that Columbus Day is more worthy of be a national holiday than Election Day. We wonder why we as a country have poor voter turn outs but on the other hand limit those you may wish to vote but find that they are unable to because of the scheduling of their work life. I feel that this is just moronic of us as country to say that voting is one of the most patriotic things one can do, however we don't wish to give you the opportunity to exercise this right. It truly is a frustrating situation.
It's honestly unbelievable to me that Election Day hasn't been made an official holiday yet, but we get days off for things like Presidents' Day and Columbus Day. Although it's always nice to get a day off they don't really serve any purpose. Letting everyone stay home on Election Day would allow people who usually wouldn't have the time to vote get to the polls. It would also prevent a rush to the polls when most people get off work around five, and hopefully stop huge wait times. The reality is that not everyone can afford to take time off to vote, and this really lowers the amount of people that go to the polls. In my case in order to fit voting into my schedule I'm either going to have to get up early, or go during the rush once classes get out. It would be really nice to be able to go around midday, but with my class schedule this just isn't possible. It's great to know that companies in our industry are embracing giving people time off, but it should just be made a national standard.
HOLLYWOOD HAS THE RIGHT IDEA. It is statistically proven that when employees/students are excused to vote, voter turnout is much higher. As we all know this election cycle has probably been one of the scariest in a long time- definitely in my lifetime- so any incentive to vote is such a great thing. Some teachers, like Susan Tsu, will reward students with extra credit for exercising their civic duty. Voting is just so important and some of us take it completely for granted. This election cycle I have volunteered for the Clinton-Kaine camp because my parents grew up in communist Cuba, a place where they did not have a voice. It is not only your right as an American to show up on Tuesday but it is your duty.
Voting is an immense privilege that many people in this country don’t, or can’t take advantage of. This is really sad because we live in a country in which we are proud of our democratic process, so it would seem only natural to have the biggest day in which our democratic rights are exercised be more important than just any other work day. Election day should be a mandated federal holiday for this reason. I feel like most everyone agrees on this, yet it never actually happens. I also believe that voting should be made into an easier process by opening up early voting to more people. I think that it is great that Hollywood is giving election day to its employees so they can go vote. Especially in the arts, I feel like our often crazy schedules could really impact our ability to vote. I think that because the arts so often addresses political issues in the messages we send through our art, making sure we can all vote is just common sense.
Ok. There is almost nothing as frustrating as the fact that we have an election process where voting is available only one day, on a weekday and that day is not a national holiday. I have a plan to go to my polling place early in the morning before classes and therefore not miss any school but the amount of stress that working voting into my schedule is causing me is completely unnecessary. I really appreciate that some professors are taking initiative and canceling classes on election day to allow students more freedom to go vote. It doesn’t matter what lecture a teacher had planned or what goals an employer wanted to meet on that day, voting is easily the most important thing anyone will do on election day. As the article points out, freeing up the entire day for voting would avoid the long lines before and after the work day and no one would have to leave the voting line because it is taking too long and they have to get to their job. America is supposed to be about democracy and freedom but when it comes to voting we seem to put as many obstacles as possible in the way of citizens trying to make their voices heard.
I love this. I remember reading a number of articles during the aftermath of the Arizona primary because almost every voting place in the entire county had lines 4 or 5 hours long. I remember a good amount of my friends coming in during 3rd or 4th period because they had gone to vote and had gotten stuck in the madness. Out of all of my teachers, only my government and economics teacher gave them any leeway or excused them. I thought it was so strange that all of my other teachers had been saying all week that if we wee old enough to vote we should by all means go vote, but apparently that "by all means" didn't apply to missing their class. I think that companies in Hollywood giving time off is a great precedent for those in other areas to start giving employees time off to vote, as so many of them have children to care for in the mornings or make it home to at night that voting at any other time of the day is impossible, but they still deserve a voice too.
While Hollywood definitely has the right idea here, I do not think we should overly celebrate it and instead focus on spreading this practice further and further out. California itself, not to mention the Los Angeles area, I believe is one of the more politically involved states in this union, and so I do not believe it should come as a surprise that Hollywood is giving their employees time to vote. What is necessary now is to get all the other employers outside of the entertainment industry, to allow their employees the time to exercise their civic duty and right as an american citizen. It is absolutely not acceptable that someone has to go vote on their lunch break, and it is absolutely despicable that some people may have to choose between having the time to vote and getting to work on time.
This is absolutely something that can be fixed relatively simply. For one, not enough people know about absentee voting, a practice which is incredibly useful as it allows for people to vote and take their time with the ballot, without being pressured by the voting line. Extending voting time is an effective solution as well. In france, the presidential vote takes two days to be fully counted. Finally actual legislation mandating employers to allow time off for their employees on voting day, or even going the logical step, making Voting day a national holiday. This would have the added effect I believe of garnering more interest in the voting process in gfeneral
Why is Tuesday not a national holiday? It is, by all means, fantastic that Hollywood is letting people have the day off so that they can vote for the presidential election without having to rush home from work or sneak out in the early morning hours (like the rest of us). It’s absolutely ridiculous that we don’t have Tuesday off. This “tradition” oppresses the votes of working people (many of whom cannot afford to take off of work). So much so that the current most common excuse for not voting is having to work. It should not be this way. Your socio-economic class should not determine the voice you have in this country. We should all be equals under the law (and under cultural norms as well) and voter turnout should ideally be roughly the same across class and race. But it isn’t. Statistically, older white upper middle to upper class people are the most likely to cast their ballot next week (these are the same people who are statistically most likely to be conservative). On the other hand, people in a lower socio-economic status are much less likely to vote. I don’t believe that having to work during Election Day is the cause of this gap in voter turnout, but it certainly isn’t helping. Not to mention that the reason we vote on Tuesdays is completely arcane. Tuesday was determined to be voting day beck in the 1800s when people had to travel all day to go to the polls. The idea is that people would go to church on Sunday, then travel Monday so that they can vote on Tuesday. I don’t know about you, but my polling place is just up the street now, and I really don’t need a full day of travel to get there. I believe that America needs to rethink its ideas about when we vote and change it to either a weekend or declare it a national holiday.
I love this! Molly McCarter is also giving us time off on Tuesday to vote. I feel like a lot of the time we put too much emphasis on the importance of work and forget to value the things that really affect our lives, so seeing companies taking this day off to express the importance of voting is great. That said, it is sort of incredible to me that this isn't a law yet. How is voting day not a holiday that everyone automatically gets off? Imagine how many people are completely unable to vote because they need to be at work on a Tuesday (obviously) or work hours that are so long they span the 7am beginning to the 8pm ending. I wonder just how many more people would vote if it weren't inconvenient for their schedules. What about people who commute? It's totally inflexible.
I think this is amazing! Just last week I sent in my absentee ballot and felt so good about it. Especially after all that had been happening with this specific election. I love hearing about certain companies and organizations giving their employees time off for something important like voting for our next president. I wish that carnegie mellon would let us do that and give us at least a block in the day where we could have time to go submit our ballots. Luckily we have polling places on campus but not everyone is assigned to the same place and need to go off campus. I know a few people who are simply not going to vote because they have no time due to their schedule. Like Kat asked, I wonder how many people would go out and vote if it wasn't an inconvenience to take time out of your already busy schedule. If people were given time off, I definitely believe more voices would be heard in elections.
I personally think that voting day should be a national holiday, and that it should not be up to the respective employer to allow their employees to vote. Sure, it seems reasonable that they can vote before or after work, as most people work 9 to 5, but for many people working long hours or multiple jobs, the 8 to 8 time frame simply doesn't work. And often times, these are the votes that count--the working class people struggling to make a living who are under represented in politics today. No matter your political preferences, I see no reason why this day can't be a day off to allow everyone to vote--our voter turnouts are already depressingly low, and I think that a holiday for this day once every 4 years in November is not much to ask to allow everyone in this nation to have their voice heard.
I’m not the most politically aware or politically active person you’ll meet. Especially this election. That being said, I think it is incredibly important to vote. Especially this election. I remember having conversations in high school or college about how poor voter turnout in the US is. I think it is great that entertainment companies are giving people time off to vote. Considering the schedules of people who work in entertainment, many don’t have the time to vote or may have other obligations, like children, and can’t make it out. I’m in favor of making election day a national holiday, giving everyone the opportunity to vote. Although, making it a holiday may mean that lines will be longer, but I think I’m ok with that. Voting is one of the best ways we have to make things change. If we don’t make the time to vote and don’t voice our concern to vote changes will be made without us.
It angers me when American citizens are hindered by their contributions to our economy and cannot vote. I wish I had read this article sooner because I would love to be a part of a non-profit organization that pushes for voting during convenient times. I am fortunate enough to both have the time and resources to take time out of my day to cast my vote for the next leader of our country. However, voting should not be about that. By making voting day a national holiday many of those who are not able to vote whether it be for their job or other personal commitments would be able to find the time to cast their important vote. I find it appalling that we the United States of America fall onto the bottom of the list when it comes to voter turn out. For a country that makes such a fuss over our elections, especially this one, I would have expected more people to make an effort to perform their civic duty. It is so important that we as a country, as a people have our voice heard. Not only would making voting a national holiday give more people the opportunity to vote, it would in turn give us the results of a more complete American thought.
But in truth, I am beyond stressed about the outcome of this election, and cannot wait for tomorrow to come. #imwithher
I am so fortunate that I attend a school that allows us time to exercise our right as Americans to vote. I think we can all agree that Tuesday's actions have left us all a little scorned and sad. Who really does know what a Trump presidency would be like? I can tell you my thoughts aren't on the bright side. What I am thinking on the bright side is how amazing it is that this school and her professors were so forgiving about attendance and tardiness on Tuesday and the following day as many student led protests in Pittsburgh. Partly because of their diligence the Allegheny county map was blue on Tuesday night. Without the overwhelming love and emotions given by our teachers and faculty I don't think many of us could've gotten through the next day, but I can tell you the conversation I had Wednesday in class was the most stimulating and invigorating conversation I've had since at CMU. I'm so glad that like CMU so many other entertainment industries have let people get off to vote this year. I only hope this continues into years as we try again to change what is already been done this year. We will never give up hope and I was partly supported by the people around us who constantly give encouragement and permission for us to exercise our rights as Americans and promote what we believe is true.
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