Three Reasons Why:
High Schools and Colleges Should Cancel Classes on Election Day
1.
The opportunity cost of having classes is very high relative to not having classes. One day of school out of 180 is not difficult to make up/reschedule- percentage wise, that is 0.555% repeated of curriculum covered in a school year (assuming curriculum is evenly distributed between days, but this percentage still holds validity even if curriculum coverage isn’t evenly distributed between days, because the choice of more extensive coverage can be another day). On the other hand, November 8th was when 65% of ballots were cast in 2012. Democratic functioning is not mutually exclusive to education, in fact, the two compliment one another. On election day, the former should take priority. This means maximizing turnout, which leads me to my next point.
2.
Having classes on election day WILL lead to less ballots being cast. There are other inhibitions to voting that can take place- car wrecks, having to drive too far, long lines due to insufficient numbers of polling places, accidents/emergencies of any kind, work (which also should be cancelled on election day for similar reasons), studying, etc. Having classes on election day makes it less likely that people will overcome these hurdles to getting to the ballot box.
3.
More young people need to vote. There are already long standing issues with young voters voting disproportionately less than their relative demographic makeup of the voting population. It may be advanced that looking at the voting population as a whole, the “sample” still may be represented well despite the causes mentioned above preventing people from voting. This, however, upon closer examination is not the case. Young voters have a specific set of interests that are not having their full weight represented in the political process. This means that we have a distortion of Democracy.
In conclusion high schools and colleges should not have classes on November the 8th. Taking this step will directly lead to more ballots being cast and a more representative Republic.
