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Election day

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This article is about the general term "election day" worldwide. For other uses, see Election day (disambiguation).
San Francisco City Hall illuminated in special LED lighting with the national colors of red, white, and blue on Election Day in the United States (Tuesday November 6, 2018) to commemorate the occasion

Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. In many countries, general elections are always held on a Saturday or Sunday, to enable as many voters as possible to participate; while in other countries elections are always held on a weekday. However, some countries, or regions within a country, which hold elections on a weekday declare election day a public holiday. Countries which permit absentee ballots, early ballots or postal votes to be cast by mail before the election avoid the problem altogether by enabling voters to vote on a day that is more convenient to them.

An election day usually culminates in an election night when the results of the election are tallied and winners are announced.[1]

Election day by country/territory

Country/Territory Region Election day
 Albania Europe Sunday.[citation needed]
 Argentina South America Fourth Sunday of October immediately before the end of the current mandates.[2]
 Austria Europe Sunday.[citation needed]
 Australia Oceania Saturday for federal,[3] state and most local elections. Postal and early voting permitted. Some local elections are by postal voting only.
 Belgium Europe Sunday.[citation needed]
 Bolivia South America Sunday.[citation needed]
 Bosnia and Herzegovina Europe Sunday.[citation needed]
 Brazil South America First Sunday of October. Runnoffs take place on the last Sunday of the same October.[4]
 Bulgaria Europe Sunday.[citation needed]
 Canada North America Third Monday of October every four years, or after Parliament is dissolved by the Governor General.[5]
 Chile South America Sunday.[citation needed]
 Colombia South America Sunday.[citation needed]
 Czech Republic Europe Traditionally elections are held starting on a Friday afternoon and ending on Saturday afternoon.[6]
 Cyprus Europe Saturday.[7]
 Costa Rica North America Sunday.[citation needed]
 Croatia Europe Sunday.[citation needed]
 Denmark Europe Tuesday is most common, but other days are used frequently.[8]
 Ecuador South America Sunday.[citation needed]
 El Salvador North America Sunday.[citation needed]
 Estonia Europe Sunday.[citation needed]
 Finland Europe Sunday.[citation needed]
 France Europe Sunday.[citation needed]
 Germany Europe Sunday.[9]
 Greece Europe Sunday.[citation needed]
 Hong Kong Asia Sunday.[citation needed]
 Hungary Europe Sunday.[citation needed]
 Iceland Europe Saturday.[citation needed]
 India Asia Multiple days.[citation needed]
 Indonesia Asia Wednesday.[citation needed]
 Ireland Europe Typically on a Friday, but precise date set by Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government.[10]
 Israel Asia By law on the third Tuesday of Cheshvan, but normally held on a different day.[11] Election day is a holiday in Israel, so people do not have to work.[12]
 Italy Europe Sunday.[citation needed]
 Japan Asia Sunday.[citation needed]
 Latvia Europe Saturday.[7]
 Lebanon Asia Sunday.[citation needed]
 Lithuania Europe Sunday.[citation needed]
 Luxembourg Europe Sunday.[citation needed]
 Macedonia Europe Sunday.[citation needed]
 Malta Europe Saturday.[7]
 Malaysia Asia Traditionally on weekends. In GE 2018, election day is set on Wednesday.[13]
 Mexico North America Sunday.[citation needed]
 Montenegro Europe Sunday.[citation needed]
 Netherlands Europe Typically on a Wednesday.[citation needed]
 New Zealand Oceania Saturday.[14]
 Nicaragua North America Sunday.[citation needed]
 Norway Europe Monday in early September. Exact date set by the King of Norway.[15]
 Panama North America Sunday.[citation needed]
 Paraguay South America Sunday.[citation needed]
 Peru South America Sunday.[citation needed]
 Philippines Asia Second Monday in May.[16]
 Poland Europe Sunday.[citation needed]
 Portugal Europe Sunday.[citation needed]
 Puerto Rico North America First Tuesday after the first Monday in November.[17]
 Romania Europe Sunday.[citation needed]
 Russia Europe Sunday.[18]
 Serbia Europe Sunday.[citation needed]
 Singapore Asia Usually Saturday.[citation needed] Polling day is usually an official holiday.
 Slovakia Europe Saturday.[7]
 Slovenia Europe Sunday.[citation needed]
 South Korea Asia Usually Wednesday. Election day is a national holiday.[19]
 Spain Europe There is no fixed election day for general elections, although since 1986 every general election has been held on Sunday.[n. 1]
 Sweden Europe Second Sunday of September.[21][22]
  Switzerland Europe Sunday.[citation needed]
 Taiwan Asia Saturday.[23]
 Thailand Asia Sunday.[citation needed]
 Turkey Europe Sunday.[citation needed]
 Ukraine Europe Sunday.[citation needed]
 United Kingdom Europe Thursday.
 United States North America First Tuesday after the first Monday in November.[24]
 Uruguay South America Sunday.[citation needed]
 Venezuela South America Sunday.[citation needed]

Other bodies

Elections to the European Parliament take place over a period of four days (i.e., Thursday through to Sunday), according to the election days of the EU members states (as listed above). There are some exceptions; as Wednesday was not covered by the available dates, the Netherlands holds elections on Thursday, while Denmark holds elections on Sunday. Countries which hold the ballot before Sunday are not permitted to announce results until all other countries have finished voting.

Local elections in Spain (as well as regional elections in the case of regions where the head of government is not able to prematurely dissolve the legislature at will) are held by law on the 4th Sunday of May.[25]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ 22 June 1986, 29 October 1989, 6 June 1993, 3 March 1996, 12 March 2000, 14 March 2004, 9 March 2008, 20 November 2011, 20 December 2015, 26 June 2016.[20]

References

  1. ^ Orr, Graeme (2016). "10". Ritual and Rhythm in Electoral Systems: A Comparative Legal Account.
  2. ^ "National Electoral Code – Article 53 and 148". InfoLEG (in Spanish).
  3. ^ "Elections and voting in Australia" (PDF). Museum of Australian Democracy. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  4. ^ "Electoral Law – Article 1". InfoLEG (in Portuguese).
  5. ^ "Elections Canada". Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  6. ^ "General elections 2017". Radio Prague. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  7. ^ a b c d "Holding the Election". www.vaalit.fi. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  8. ^ Folketignet (January 2011). "The Parliamentary Electoral System in Denmark" (PDF). p. 18. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  9. ^ "§16 Bundeswahlgesetz". Bundeswahlgesetz Bundesrepublik Deutschland (in German). Bundesministerium der Justiz. 3 June 2008. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  10. ^ Ryan, Phillip; Horan, Niamh; O'Connor, Niall (31 January 2016). "Six Nations match at the centre of row over election date - Independent.ie". Independent.ie. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  11. ^ Hoffman, Gil Stern (24 March 2015). "With full term possible, Netanyahu may outlast Ben-Gurion (and Obama)". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  12. ^ Sharabi, Meital (4 April 2019). "Eclectic election day activities". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  13. ^ "Malaysia's election on a Wednesday favors PM, opposition says". 13 April 2018. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  14. ^ "Election Days – General Elections 1853-2011". nzhistory.govt.nz. Ministry for Culture and Heritage, New Zealand. 24 November 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  15. ^ "The main features of the Norwegian electoral system". Government.no. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  16. ^ Lazo, Ricardo S. (2009). Philippine governance and the 1987 constitution (2009 2nd ed.). Manila, Philippines: Published & distributed by Rex Book Store. p. 161. ISBN 9789712345463.
  17. ^ “Código Electoral de Puerto Rico para el Siglo XXI”: Ley Núm. 78 de 1 de Junio de 2011, según enmendada. CAPÍTULO IX. — PROCEDIMIENTOS ANTERIORES A LA ELECCIÓN; VOTACIÓN: Artículo 9.001. — Fecha de las Elecciones. — (16 L.P.R.A. § 4141) Gobierno de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. p. 66 of 104. Accessed 8 November 2019.
  18. ^ "Статья 10. Назначение выборов" [Article 10. Election scheduling]. Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation (in Russian). Retrieved 28 December 2018. Голосование на выборах может быть назначено только на воскресенье.
  19. ^ Butcher, Luke. "The Effectiveness of Early Voting – A Case Study of the Republic of Korea" (PDF). Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  20. ^ "Elecciones Generales". Junta Electoral Central.
  21. ^ "Elections in Sweden". V-Dem. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  22. ^ Riksdagsförvaltningen. "Elections to the Riksdag". www.riksdagen.se. Retrieved 12 December 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  23. ^ "Election Day in Taiwan". Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  24. ^ Montanaro, Domenico (1 November 2016). "Why Do We Vote On Tuesdays?". NPR.org. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  25. ^ "Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General". Boletín Oficial del Estado.

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