WATCH>> Bob Barr Doesn't Know Why We Vote On Tuesday

This post is published on Why Tuesday? as well as OffTheBus.

This month we've spent time with a member of Congress trying to move voting to the Weekend, and we've chatted with the Speaker of the House, who indicated she would support such legislation.

Last weekend at Netroots Nation in Austin, Texas, Libertarian presidential candidate and former U.S. Representative Bob Barr told me he doesn't know why it is we vote on Tuesday, but he'd support voting on weekends to make voting more convenient.

Barr: "I'll tell you -- we need to do something -- and we need to do a lot of different things -- and that may be one of the things we need to do. As President, I would sign such legislation."

Don't know why we vote on Tuesday? Click here.

Why Tuesday? is an effort to make America's democracy stronger through increased voter participation; we work to make election reform an issue that our politicians cannot afford to avoid. Read more campaign coverage from OffTheBus by clicking here.

Comments

[Pdubya]

bob was great today in the senate judiciary hearings on impeachment.

where in the heck is the headline at huffpo?

it was SIX hours and there was some excellent testimony.

[akryan]

seriously. Up here in AK it's brutal. standing in line in the middle of the work week in the middle of winter sucks. I remember 4 years ago it was 0 degrees outside. Since it's a work day everyone comes at the same time, either early before work or in the evening after work. By november that means you're standing in the dark and the cold. Of course the poorer districts didn't get enough voting booths and some of the machines broke so lines were long compared to wealthier districts. People just can't stand outside in weather that cold for long without getting frostbite.

[JinChicago]

^right? how long can church services be? even if you are in there for 5 hours, you should have enough time to go vote

[JohnFromCensornati]

I haven't got any use for this guy, but good gawd this is not a reason to criticize him.
Voting on Tuesday makes no sense.

[tyruler]

Bob Barr like Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich, and Ralph Nader are more than just politicians. They are men of principles and conviction. If they believe in something, instead of appeasing and sticking their finger in air to see which way the wind is blowing...stick to their principles.

I'd gladly vote for either of them after being so disappointed with Obama on Israel, Iran, and FISA.

I agree move voting to Saturday for convienience after all it was made a Tuesday for the convienience of the farmers. And the last I checked there are more non-farmers than farmers who'd be inconvienienced by it on Tuesday so move the darn date to the weekend, BOTH SATURDAY AND SUNDAY.

[jackjack]

I'd say Saturdays sure....but then that would impede on the 7th day adventists who worship on Sat right? Why not just make voting day a national HOLIDAY? Then we dont have to worry about standing in lines and being late for work (when they only give you like an hour to go vote).

[MiddleRoadLiberal]

The proposal is for voting on *both* Saturday and Sunday, so that no matter what your holy day is you can vote without fear of retribution from your lord. Although, making it a national holiday, whether it's Tuesday or not, would be a great idea. When I was in college most professors cancelled class that day anyway.

[WilliePilgrim]

The story provides an answer as to why it's tuesday (legacy of the Horse and Buggy days where travel and marketing were more constrained) but doesn't say "why NOT" a weekend, and one can easily conceive of rural citizens complaining that voting on the weekend would have impinged their time to attend their church community functions which would of course entail the weekend.
I wonder if religious concerns wouldn't still make their objections known and felt should the opportunity to shift the voting to a Saturday be considered.

[FatJoe]

In every country in Latin America, where (I think) church attendance and religiosity are GREATER than in the US, they vote on Sundays without any problems. Just a thought.