Why we vote today

By Roy Greene, Globe Staff

Why do we vote on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November?

The choice dates to 1845, according to the Farmers' Almanac, when most Americans were farmers. Election Day couldn't be held in spring because that was planting time; summer was out because that's when the crops had to be maintained; and late summer and early fall were busy with the harvest.

So Congress chose November, before the weather turned cold and travel became more difficult.

Why Tuesday? Churchgoing Americans preferred not to travel on the Sabbath, and it took many rural voters a day or two to get to the polls. So Tuesday was the earliest day in the week elections could be scheduled.

Several groups (including one called Why Tuesday?) are pushing to change the national voting day. With busy family schedules these days, they say, voter turnout would rise with weekend voting, as occurs in many other countries.