Could Election Day become an official state holiday in Utah?

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah could soon have another state holiday, but with the purpose of encouraging all Utahns to vote.

HB104, sponsored by Rep. Ryan Wilcox, R-Ogden, would add Election Day, the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, as a state holiday. Wilcox presented the bill to the House Government Operations Committee on Thursday.

During the committee hearing, Rep. Cory Maloy, R-Lehi, joked that he loves the idea of getting a Tuesday off, voting in the morning and "barbecuing the rest of the day."

"I would personally oppose this if it were warm weather; people would go to the lake instead of voting. But perhaps because it is November, they'll actually go vote," said committee chairman Rep. Jefferson Burton, R-Salem.

Wilcox said that this would not force any businesses to close on Election Day or give their employees the day off; it simply gives them the option. It would give Election Day the title of a holiday. Wilcox added that the hope is Election Day will eventually be made a federal holiday.

The representative ran the same bill to add the holiday last year; it made it through committee, but was never passed.

Lawmakers want to encourage more people to vote

Wilcox's goal of making Election Day a state holiday is to encourage people to go out and vote. He said he's heard from people in the private sector that they would love to have an excuse to give their employees extra time off to vote.

There are already provisions in state code that require employers to give employees time off to vote.

"My hope is that this would be a good reminder to go actually do that to encourage those folks to take advantage of that," Wilcox said.

Rep. Candice Pierucci, R-Herriman, said it is important to find good ways to encourage and incentivize people to vote.

"I think you know we have holidays for a lot of different things that range from Groundhog Day to Labor Day. I can think of nothing more important than our elections," Pierucci said.

During the public comment section, Utahn Marilyn Momeny said she agrees with the bill.

"I think it's a great idea, and it would definitely help to ensure that people can't make the excuse that they don't have time to go vote," she said.

HB104 received a unanimous favorable recommendation from the committee.

Where in the US is Election Day a holiday?

Across the U.S., there are a handful of different ways that states handle Election Day, whether that is having it as a public holiday, giving paid time off to vote, or both.

There are five states where Election Day is a public holiday, and employers are required to provide paid time off to vote according to the Movement Advancement Project. These five states are:

• Maryland
• New York
• Illinois
• West Virginia
• Hawaii

Another nine states have Election Day as a public holiday, but employers are not required to provide paid time off for employees to vote. Those nine states are:

• Montana
• Michigan
• Indiana
• Kentucky
• Virginia
• Louisiana
• Rhode Island
• New Jersey
• Delaware

Out of the states where Election Day is not a public holiday, 17 states — including Utah — require employers to give their employees paid time off for voting. The other 19 states do not require employers to provide paid time off for voting; Washington, D.C., also does it this way.

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