Why we VOTE on a Tuesday

According to scholars at the Library of Congress, the U.S. electoral tradition began as a way to accommodate the rhythms of the agrarian society of the 19th century and get out the farm vote. Early American politicians preferred November, after the harvest was complete and farmers would have time to go to the polls.



As for Tuesday, the process of elimination played a part. Monday was unacceptable; rural residents needed time to ride to remote voting sites and couldn't travel on Sunday because of the Christian Sabbath. Nor did it work to simply make election day the first day of the month; that was often reserved for court business at the county seat, which doubled as the polling site in much of the country.



So, in 1845, President John Tyler signed a law standardizing presidential balloting on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Two decades later, the standard was extended to congressional elections. As earlier nominating primaries proliferated throughout the 20th century, state officials usually hewed to Tuesday.