Election day
Election day refers to the day when general elections are held. In many countries, general elections are always held on a 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, always make a weekday election day a public holiday, thus satisfying both demands.
Sunday
In the following countries general elections are held on Sundays:
- Argentina
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bolivia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Brazil
- Bulgaria
- Chile
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Italy
- Japan
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malaysia
- Mexico
- Nicaragua
- Paraguay
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russia
- Serbia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Thailand
- Turkey
- Ukraine
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
- This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Monday
In the following countries general elections are held on Mondays:
- Canada, unless Monday is a holiday, in which case election day will be the following Tuesday.
- Philippines
- Norway, though municipalities are also permitted to open polling stations on the preceding Sunday.
- Trinidad and Tobago
Tuesday
In the following countries general elections are held on Tuesdays:
- United States[1]
- Denmark, although the most recent general election was held on a Thursday instead.
Wednesday
In the following countries general elections are held on Wednesdays:
- India, the 2009 general election was held over a period of 4 weeks with election days on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
- Netherlands
- South Africa, elections have been held on a Wednesday in either April or June every 5 years since 1994.
- South Korea
Thursday
In the following countries general elections are held on Thursdays:
- India, the 2009 general election was held over a period of 4 weeks with election days on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
- United Kingdom.[1]
Friday
In the following countries general elections are held on Fridays:
- Czech Republic, afternoon
- Republic of Ireland
Saturday
In the following countries general elections are held on Saturdays:
Other parliamentary bodies
Elections in the European Union 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 were some exceptions; as Wednesday was not covered by the available dates, the Netherlands holds voting on Thursday, while Denmark holds voting on Sunday.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Election Day". Your Holiday Directory. Gone-ta-pott.com. Retrieved 15 May 2010.