I have felt for a long time that election day in the US (by law, the first Tuesday after November 1) should be a national holiday.
In some states, like Colorado, we now have an excellent mail in ballot system , but many people still physically show up at the polls to vote. The idea of voter suppression has never made sense to me, ever since I learned about the constitution and amendments 15, 19, 24, and 26 in elementary school civics class. I just went on Wikipedia and reviewed the timeline of voting rights in the United States , which reminded me of the awesomeness of the book Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History .
At Foundry Group we’ve decided to make sure that all of our employees have the time they need to vote on 11/6 by participating in #TimeOffToVote – a nationwide effort to encourage employers to make accommodations for their employees to participate in the election. While we are a small organization, as I was told in elementary school, and a believe deeply, a fundamental component of our democracy is that every citizen gets a vote, and every vote counts. Even on my most negative and cynical days, I rejoice that I get to live in a country where this is true.
We hope you’ll consider whether participating in #TimeOffToVote makes sense for your company as well.