Election day

This article is about the general term "election day" worldwide. For other uses, see Election day (disambiguation).

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Election day by weekday

  Monday

  Tuesday

  Wednesday

  Thursday

  Friday

  Saturday

  Sunday

  several days

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 6 November 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.

Sundays are the most common day for elections, but this is less true in the Anglosphere; Saturdays are used in New Zealand and Australia, and weekdays for the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. This is partially due to the influence of Protestantism, which historically set restrictions on activities other than church-going during the Sabbath (usually considered as falling on a Sunday).^[1]

An election day usually culminates in an election night when the results of the election are tallied and winners are announced.^[2]

Election day by country/territory

Country/Territory	Region	Election day
Albania	Europe	Sundays.[3]
Argentina	South America	Fourth Sunday of October immediately before the end of the current mandates.[4]
Austria	Europe	Sundays. Nationalrat elections may be held on another public holiday.[5]
Australia	Oceania	Saturday for federal,[6] state and most local elections. Postal and early voting permitted. Some local elections are by postal voting only.
Belgium	Europe	Sunday (until 1894: Tuesday).[5]
Bolivia	South America	Sunday.[7]
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Europe	Sunday.[8]
Brazil	South America	First Sunday of October. Runnoffs take place on the last Sunday of the same October.[9]
Bulgaria	Europe	Saturday for legislative elections.[10]
Canada	North America	Third Monday of October every four years, or after Parliament is dissolved by the Governor General.[11]
Chile	South America	Sunday.[citation needed]
Colombia	South America	Sunday: the second Sunday of March for Congress, and the second Sunday of May for President and Vice President.[12]
Czech Republic	Europe	Traditionally elections are held over two days, starting on a Friday afternoon and ending the following Saturday afternoon.[13][14]
Cyprus	Europe	Saturday.[15][1]
Costa Rica	North America	Sunday: first Sunday of February for the President, Vice-President, and Legislative Assembly; second Sunday of February for municipal elections.[16]
Croatia	Europe	Sunday.[17]
Denmark	Europe	Tuesday is most common, but other days are used frequently.[18]
Ecuador	South America	Sunday.[citation needed]
El Salvador	North America	Sunday.[citation needed]
Estonia	Europe	Elections for the Riigikogu, which chooses both the president and prime minister, are on the first Sunday of March.[19]
Finland	Europe	Sunday.[20]
France	Europe	Sunday.[5]
Germany	Europe	Sunday.[21]
Greece	Europe	Sunday.[5]
Hong Kong	Asia	Sundays (for legislative elections; the Chief Executive of Hong Kong is not elected by universal suffrage).[22]
Hungary	Europe	Sunday.[23]
Iceland	Europe	Saturday.[1]
India	Asia	Elections are held over multiple days.[10] The 2019 Indian general election, which began on a Thursday, took place over seven phases with six days between each phase. Constituencies vote only on the day of their respective phase.[24][25]
Indonesia	Asia	Wednesday.[citation needed]
Ireland	Europe	Typically on a Friday, but precise date set by Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government.[26]
Israel	Asia	By law on the third Tuesday of Cheshvan, but normally held on a different day.[27] Election day is a holiday in Israel, so people do not have to work.[28]
Italy	Europe	Municipal, provincial, and regional elections take place on Sundays, as do elections for the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate and EU Parliament elections. Occasionally Mondays are added as voting day.[5]
Japan	Asia	Sunday.[29]
Latvia	Europe	Saturday.[1]
Lebanon	Asia	Until 2009, elections were held over several consecutive Sundays.[30] The most recent election, the 2018 Lebanese general election, was also held on a Sunday.
Lithuania	Europe	Elections for the Seimas are on the second Sunday of October, and for the president the last Sunday two months before the end of the current president's term.[31]
Luxembourg	Europe	Sunday.[5]
Macau	Asia	Sunday.[32]
Macedonia	Europe	Sundays, but the 2020 North Macedonian parliamentary election departed from this standard. It was held over three weekdays after being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[33]
Malta	Europe	Saturday.[1]
Malaysia	Asia	Traditionally on weekends. In 2018, the general election was held on Wednesday.[34]
Mexico	North America	Sunday.[35]
Montenegro	Europe	Sunday.[citation needed]
Netherlands	Europe	Typically on a Wednesday.[5] For elections to the European Parliament, Thursday.[36][5]
New Zealand	Oceania	Saturday.[37]
Nicaragua	North America	Sunday.[citation needed]
Norway	Europe	Monday in early September. Exact date set by the King of Norway.[38]
Panama	North America	Sunday.[citation needed]
Paraguay	South America	Sunday.[citation needed]
Peru	South America	Sunday.[39]
Philippines	Asia	Second Monday in May.[40]
Poland	Europe	Sunday.[41]
Portugal	Europe	Sunday.[5]
Puerto Rico	North America	Day after the first Monday in November.[42]
Romania	Europe	Sunday.[citation needed]
Russia	Europe	Sunday.[43]
Serbia	Europe	Sunday.[citation needed]
Singapore	Asia	Saturdays, but can be any day of the week, such as when Saturdays conflict with holidays. By law, polling day is a public holiday if it falls on a weekday.[44]
Slovakia	Europe	Slovakian elections are held across a Friday and Saturday, as in Czechia.[10]
Slovenia	Europe	Sunday.[14]
South Korea	Asia	Usually Wednesday. Election day is a national holiday.[45]
Spain	Europe	There is no fixed election day for general elections, although since 1986 every general election has been held on Sunday.[n. 1] Municipal and provincial elections take place on the fourth Sunday of May.[5][47]
Sweden	Europe	Second Sunday of September.[48][49]
Switzerland	Europe	Saturday and Sunday.[50]
Taiwan	Asia	Saturday.[51][1]
Thailand	Asia	Sunday.[52]
Turkey	Europe	Sunday.[citation needed]
Ukraine	Europe	Sunday.[citation needed]
United Kingdom	Europe	Thursday.[50] See also: Election Day (United Kingdom)
United States	North America	The Tuesday after the first Monday in November.[53] See also: Election Day (United States)
Uruguay	South America	Sunday.[citation needed]
Venezuela	South America	Sunday.[54]

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.

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.^[46]

References

1. Brett, Judith (2019). From Secret Ballot to Democracy Sausage: How Australia Got Compulsory Voting. Text Publishing. p. 111. ISBN 978-1-925626-81-0. Retrieved 30 May 2020. Australia is one of only a handful of countries to hold elections on Saturdays. Cyprus, Malta, Iceland, Latvia, Slovakia, Taiwan, and New Zealand are the others. ... Most countries go to the polls on Sundays, except in the Protestant-dominated Anglosphere, where public activities on the Sabbath other than attending church have historically been severely restricted.
2. Orr, Graeme (2016). "10". Ritual and Rhythm in Electoral Systems: A Comparative Legal Account.
3. "THE ELECTORAL CODE OF THE REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA." Law no. 10 019. December 29, 2008.
4. "National Electoral Code – Article 53 and 148". InfoLEG (in Spanish).
5. European Democracies (PDF) (Report). Electoral Reform Society. June 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
6. "Elections and voting in Australia" (PDF). Museum of Australian Democracy. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
7. Report of the 2014 National Lawyers Guild Bolivian Election Observation Delegation (PDF) (Report). National Lawyers Guild. 20 January 2015. p. 7. Retrieved 30 May 2020. In most respects, Election Day appeared to be a model of local democracy in action, with notable differences from the US voting process. Elections are held on Sundays that are declared national holidays. All regular business is shut down to encourage voter turnout. Voting is compulsory--with non-excused abstention punishable by a hefty fine--as well as highly participatory. To encourage unbiased reflection, campaigning is prohibited for 72 hours ahead of the election, and the consumption of alcoholic beverages is outlawed for 48 hours.
8. Schakel 2017, p. 42: "General elections for the state, entity and cantonal parliaments take place on the same date every four years. ... Elections are held on Sundays and election silence kicks in one day prior to the start of voting and lasts until the polling stations close. Bosnia and Herzegovina citizens residing abroad keep their full voting rights but rarely exercise it."
9. "Electoral Law – Article 1". InfoLEG (in Portuguese).
10. Massicotte, Louis; Blais, André; Yoshinaka, Antoine. Establishing the Rules of the Game: Election Laws in Democracies. University of Toronto Press. pp. 116–118. ISBN 978-0802085641.
11. "Elections Canada". Retrieved 21 November 2017.
12. Election Law of Colombia (in Spanish), February 1993, p. 185. “Las elecciones para Congreso de la República se realizarán el segundo domingo de marzo. Las elecciones de Presidente y Vicepresidente se realizarán el segundo domingo de mayo. En caso que debe celebrarse nueva votación, de conformidad con lo dispuesto por el artículo 190 de la Constitución Política, esta tendrá lugar tres (3) semanas mas tarde."
13. "General elections 2017". Radio Prague. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
14. Voting hours for elections in EU Member States (PDF) (Report). Oireachtas Library & Research Service. 30 June 2015. pp. 1–4. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
15. "Holding the Election". www.vaalit.fi. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
16. "Electoral Act". Article 150, Act of 2 September 2009. Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Costa Rica. p. 72.
17. Schakel, Arjan H. (2017). Regional and National Elections in Eastern Europe: Territoriality of the Vote in Ten Countries. London: Palgrave Macmillian. ISBN 978-1-137-51787-6. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
18. Folketignet (January 2011). "The Parliamentary Electoral System in Denmark" (PDF). p. 18. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
19. Olechno, Artur (2011). Political Systems Of The Central And Eastern European Countries. p. 91. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
20. Aggeborn, Linuz (2011). Voting System Voter Turnout Policy Outcome (PDF) (Master's thesis). Uppsala University.
21. "§16 Bundeswahlgesetz". Bundeswahlgesetz Bundesrepublik Deutschland (in German). Bundesministerium der Justiz. 3 June 2008. p. 12. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
22. Consultation Report on Review of Electoral Arrangements (PDF) (Report). Hong Kong Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau. May 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
23. Arató, Krisztina (2020). "Hungary". In Hloušek, Vít; Kaniok, Petr (eds.). The European Parliament Election of 2019 in East-Central Europe. p. 107. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
24. "India Elects 2019: The World's Largest Election, Explained". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
25. "Why do India's elections take so long?". The Economist. 11 April 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
26. 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.
27. Hoffman, Gil Stern (24 March 2015). "With full term possible, Netanyahu may outlast Ben-Gurion (and Obama)". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
28. Sharabi, Meital (4 April 2019). "Eclectic election day activities". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
29. Hrebenar, Ronald J. (2000). Japan's New Party System. Westview Press. p. 57. ISBN 978-0813330570. The decisions regarding which days will be election days and how the voters will indicate their candidate preferences are uniquely Japanese. Election days call on Sundays in Japan. Because Sunday is a holiday, primary and junior high schools can be used as voting sites; moreover, it is assumed that more citizens will be able to vote on a Sunday. But the choice of which Sunday is usually left up to the politicians.
30. Arda Arsenian Ekmekji (July 2012). Confessionalism and Electoral Reform in Lebanon (PDF) (Report). Aspen Institute. p. 11. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
31. Olechno, Artur (2011). Political Systems Of The Central And Eastern European Countries. pp. 105–108. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
32. [1]
33. Cvetanoski, Ilcho (15 July 2020). "North Macedonia at the polls today". OBC Transeuropa. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
34. "Malaysia's election on a Wednesday favors PM, opposition says". 13 April 2018. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
35. Wall, Alan (14 June 2012). "Elections in Mexico and the US: Comparisons and contrasts". Mexconnect. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
36. "Elections". European Parliament. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
37. "Election Days – General Elections 1853-2011". nzhistory.govt.nz. Ministry for Culture and Heritage, New Zealand. 24 November 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
38. "The main features of the Norwegian electoral system". Government.no. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
39. Carter, Jimmy. "Peru Can Give U.S. Lessons in How to Hold Elections". www.cartercenter.org. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
40. 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.
41. Grabowska, Miroslava (2016). "Religiosity, the Catholic Church, and Politics in Poland". In Ramet, Sabrina P.; Borowik, Irena (eds.). Religion, Politics, and Values in Poland: Continuity and Change Since 1989. Palgrave MacMillan. p. 268. ISBN 9781137437518. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
42. “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.
43. "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.
44. "GE2015: First time Polling Day falls on a Friday, but not first time polls held on a weekday". The Straits Times. 25 August 2015.
45. Butcher, Luke. "The Effectiveness of Early Voting – A Case Study of the Republic of Korea" (PDF). Retrieved 21 November 2017.
46. "Elecciones Generales". Junta Electoral Central.
47. "Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General". Boletín Oficial del Estado.
48. "Elections in Sweden". V-Dem. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
49. Riksdagsförvaltningen. "Elections to the Riksdag". www.riksdagen.se. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
50. Election Day: Weekend Voting (PDF) (Report). Ministry of Justice of Great Britain. September 2008. p. 10. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
51. "Election Day in Taiwan". Retrieved 23 November 2017.
52. Campbell, Michael (16 December 2016). Election Reform Effects on Policy Targeting: Voter Responses to Rice Subsidies in Thailand (Thesis). University of Colorada–Denver. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
53. Montanaro, Domenico (1 November 2016). "Why Do We Vote on Tuesdays?". NPR.org. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
54. Alexander, Robin (17 January 2013). "Elections in Venezuela and Pennsylvania: Lessons in Democracy?". North American Congress on Latin America. Retrieved 31 May 2020.