Farmers, religion led to Tuesday elections

[JAMMY]

(RNN) - Across the country, millions of people will be heading to polling places Tuesday to vote.

But why Tuesday?

For the answer, we have to look back to 1845. That's when a law was passed by Congress naming the Tuesday after the first Monday in November as Election Day for national elections.

There's a website called WhyTuesday.org dedicated entirely to explaining "why Tuesday" and advocating for "not Tuesday." But everyone from NPR to The History Channel to John Oliver have all discussed this democratic curiosity.

The reason has everything to do with the law being passed in 1845.

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The law came into being because the previous practice was to allow states to set their own date as long as it fell within a certain timeframe. But news travels, and people who hear results from a different area may be influenced by those results, so Congress unified the voting process.

Tuesday became the standard due to the agrarian nature of 19th Century America. It could take a long time to travel to the polling location because of the large rural population. Also, there were no cars.

Religion also played a role. Since most people were devoted to their Sunday worship services, the weekend wasn't an option.

Wednesdays wouldn't work because that was the day farmers sold their goods at market.

But Tuesday was perfect because they could attend church Sunday, travel to their county's courthouse to vote Monday, vote on Tuesday and be at the market by Wednesday.

And, while we're at it, why November?

Because it's after the harvest, so the farmers wouldn't miss time in their fields.

And it had to be guaranteed Election Day didn't fall on Nov. 1 because that is All Saints' Day. Again, religious reasons.

So, they chose the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

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