Election day

This article is about the general term "election day" worldwide. For other uses, see Election day (disambiguation).

Election day by weekday^{[needs update]}

  Monday

  Tuesday

  Wednesday

  Thursday

  Friday

  Saturday

  Sunday

  several days

San Francisco City Hall illuminated in special LED lighting with the national colors of red, white, and blue on Election Day in the United States (Tuesday 7 November 2018) to commemorate the occasion

Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. In many countries, general elections are always held on a Saturday or 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, which hold elections on a weekday declare election day a public holiday. Countries which permit absentee ballots, early ballots or postal votes to be cast by mail before the election avoid the problem altogether by enabling voters to vote on a day that is more convenient to them.

Sundays are the most common day for elections, but this is less true in the Anglosphere; Saturdays are used in New Zealand and Australia, and weekdays for the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. This is partially due to the influence of Protestantism, which historically set restrictions on activities other than church-going during the Sabbath (usually considered as falling on a Sunday).^[1]

An election day usually culminates in an election night when the results of the election are tallied and winners are announced.^[2]

Election day by country/territory

Country/Territory	Region	Election day	political system
Albania	Europe	Sunday.[3]	Parliamentary republic
Argentina	South America	Fourth Sunday of October immediately before the end of the current mandates.[4]	federal presidential republic
Austria	Europe	Sunday. Nationalrat elections may be held on another public holiday.[5]	Parliamentary republic
Australia	Oceania	Saturday for federal,[6] state and most local elections. Postal and early voting permitted. Some local elections are by postal voting only.	Parliamentary monarchy
Belgium	Europe	Sunday (until 1894, Tuesday).[5]	Parliamentary monarchy
Bolivia	South America	Sunday.[7]	Presidential republic
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Europe	Sunday.[8]	Parliamentary republic
Brazil	South America	First Sunday of October. Runoffs take place on the last Sunday of the same October.[9]	Federal presidential republic
Bulgaria	Europe	Sunday.	Parliamentary republic
Canada	North America	Third Monday of October every four years, or after Parliament is dissolved by the Governor General.[10]	Parliamentary monarchy
Chile	South America	Sunday.[11]	Presidential republic
Colombia	South America	Sunday: the second Sunday of March for Congress, and the second Sunday of May for President and Vice President.[12]	Presidential republic
Czech Republic	Europe	Traditionally elections are held over two days, starting on a Friday afternoon and ending the following Saturday afternoon.[13][14]	Parliamentary republic
Cyprus	Europe	Saturday.[15][1]	Parliamentary republic
Costa Rica	North America	Sunday: first Sunday of February for the President, Vice-President, and Legislative Assembly; second Sunday of February for municipal elections.[16]	Presidential republic
Croatia	Europe	Sunday.[17]	Parliamentary republic
Denmark	Europe	Elections for the Folketing usually occur on Tuesday, but this is not a statutory requirement.[18]	Parliamentary monarchy
Ecuador	South America	Sunday.^[citation needed]	Presidential republic
El Salvador	North America	Sunday.^[citation needed]	Presidential republic
Estonia	Europe	Elections for the Riigikogu, which chooses both the president and prime minister, are on the first Sunday of March.[19]	Parliamentary republic
Finland	Europe	Sunday.[20]	Parliamentary republic
France	Europe	Sunday.[5]	Semi-presidential republic
Germany	Europe	Sunday. Elections to the Bundestag may be held on another public holiday.[21]	Federal parliamentary republic
Greece	Europe	Sunday.[5]	Parliamentary republic
Hong Kong	Asia	Sunday.
Hungary	Europe	Sunday.[22]	Parliamentary republic
Iceland	Europe	Saturday.[1]	Parliamentary republic
India	Asia	Elections are held over multiple days.[23] The 2019 Indian general election, which began on a Thursday, took place over seven phases with six days between each phase. Constituencies vote only on the day of their respective phase.[24][25]	Federal parliamentary republic
Indonesia	Asia	Election dates are determined by the General Elections Commission (Indonesian: Komisi Pemilihan Umum, KPU), but must occur "on a holiday or a day determined as a national holiday" per the Indonesian electoral law of 2017.[26]	Presidential republic
Iran	Asia	Friday for presidential elections.[27]
Ireland	Europe	Typically on a Friday, but precise date set by Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government.[28]	Parliamentary republic
Israel	Asia	By law on the third Tuesday of Cheshvan, but normally held on a different day.[29] Election day is a holiday in Israel, so people do not have to work.[30]	Parliamentary republic
Italy	Europe	Municipal, provincial, and regional elections take place on a Sunday, as do elections for the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate and EU Parliament elections. Occasionally Mondays are added as voting day.[5]	Parliamentary republic
Japan	Asia	Sunday.[31]	Parliamentary monarchy
Latvia	Europe	Saturday.[1]	Parliamentary republic
Lebanon	Asia	Until 2009, elections were held over several consecutive Sundays.[32] The most recent election, the 2018 Lebanese general election, was also held on a Sunday.	Parliamentary republic
Lithuania	Europe	Elections for the Seimas are on the second Sunday of October, and for the president the last Sunday two months before the end of the current president's term.[33]	Parliamentary republic
Luxembourg	Europe	Sunday.[5]	Parliamentary monarchy
Macau	Asia	Sunday.[34]
Macedonia	Europe	Sunday, but the 2020 North Macedonian parliamentary election departed from this standard. It was held over three weekdays after being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[35]	Parliamentary republic
Malta	Europe	Saturday.[1]	Parliamentary republic
Malaysia	Asia	Saturday	Parliamentary monarchy
Mexico	North America	First Sunday of July until 2018. From 2021, the first Sunday of June.[36]	Federal presidential republic
Montenegro	Europe	Sunday for Parliamentary elections.[37]	Parliamentary republic
Netherlands	Europe	Typically on a Wednesday.[5] For elections to the European Parliament, Thursday.[38][5]	Parliamentary monarchy
New Zealand	Oceania	Saturday.[39]	Parliamentary monarchy
Nicaragua	North America	Sunday.^[citation needed]	Presidential republic
Norway	Europe	Monday in early September. Exact date set by the King of Norway.[40]	Parliamentary monarchy
Panama	North America	Sunday.[41]	Presidential republic
Paraguay	South America	Sunday.^[citation needed]	Presidential republic
Peru	South America	Sunday.[42]	Presidential republic
Philippines	Asia	Second Monday in May.[43]	Presidential republic
Poland	Europe	Sunday.[44]	Semi-presidential republic
Portugal	Europe	Sunday.[5]	Parliamentary republic
Puerto Rico	North America	Day after the first Monday in November.[45]
Romania	Europe	Sunday.^[citation needed]	Parliamentary republic
Russia	Europe	Sunday.[46]	Presidential republic
Serbia	Europe	Sunday.^[citation needed]	Semi-presidential republic
Singapore	Asia	Friday (except for by-elections which is in Saturday). By law, polling day is a public holiday if it falls on a weekday.[47]	Parliamentary republic
Slovakia	Europe	Saturday.[48]	Parliamentary republic
Slovenia	Europe	Sunday.[14]	Parliamentary republic
South Korea	Asia	Usually Wednesday. Election day is a national holiday.[49]	Presidential republic
Spain	Europe	There is no fixed election day for general elections, although since 1986 every general election has been held on Sunday.[n. 1] Municipal and provincial elections take place on the fourth Sunday of May.[5][51]	Parliamentary monarchy
Sweden	Europe	Second Sunday of September.[52][53]	Parliamentary monarchy
Switzerland	Europe	Saturday and Sunday.[54]	Federal parliamentary republic
Taiwan	Asia	Saturday.[55][1]	Semi-presidential republic
Thailand	Asia	Sunday.[56]	Parliamentary monarchy
Turkey	Europe	Sunday.[57]	Presidential republic
Ukraine	Europe	Sunday.^[citation needed]	Semi-presidential republic
United Kingdom	Europe	Thursday.[54] See also: Election Day (United Kingdom)	Parliamentary monarchy
United States	North America	All federal elections take place the Tuesday after the first Monday in November.[58] See also: Election Day (United States)	Federal presidential republic
Uruguay	South America	Sunday.^[citation needed]	Presidential republic
Venezuela	South America	Sunday.[59]	Presidential republic
Vietnam	Asia	Sunday.[60]

Other bodies

Elections to the European Parliament 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 are some exceptions; as Wednesday was not covered by the available dates, the Netherlands holds elections on Thursday, while Denmark holds elections on Sunday. Countries that hold the ballot before Sunday are not permitted to announce results until all other countries have finished voting.

See also

• Early voting
• Election silence

Notes

1. 22 June 1986, 29 October 1989, 6 June 1993, 3 March 1996, 12 March 2000, 14 March 2004, 9 March 2008, 20 November 2011, 20 December 2015, 26 June 2016.^[50]

References

1. Brett, Judith (2019). From Secret Ballot to Democracy Sausage: How Australia Got Compulsory Voting. Text Publishing. p. 111. ISBN 978-1-925626-81-0. Retrieved 30 May 2020. Australia is one of only a handful of countries to hold elections on Saturdays. Cyprus, Malta, Iceland, Latvia, Slovakia, Taiwan, and New Zealand are the others. ... Most countries go to the polls on Sundays, except in the Protestant-dominated Anglosphere, where public activities on the Sabbath other than attending church have historically been severely restricted.
2. Orr, Graeme (2016). "10". Ritual and Rhythm in Electoral Systems: A Comparative Legal Account.
3. "THE ELECTORAL CODE OF THE REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA." Law no. 10 019. December 29, 2008.
4. "National Electoral Code – Article 53 and 148". InfoLEG (in Spanish).
5. European Democracies (PDF) (Report). Electoral Reform Society. June 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
6. "Elections and voting in Australia" (PDF). Museum of Australian Democracy. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
7. Report of the 2014 National Lawyers Guild Bolivian Election Observation Delegation (PDF) (Report). National Lawyers Guild. 20 January 2015. p. 7. Retrieved 30 May 2020. In most respects, Election Day appeared to be a model of local democracy in action, with notable differences from the US voting process. Elections are held on Sundays that are declared national holidays. All regular business is shut down to encourage voter turnout. Voting is compulsory--with non-excused abstention punishable by a hefty fine--as well as highly participatory. To encourage unbiased reflection, campaigning is prohibited for 72 hours ahead of the election, and the consumption of alcoholic beverages is outlawed for 48 hours.
8. Schakel 2017, p. 42: "General elections for the state, entity and cantonal parliaments take place on the same date every four years. ... Elections are held on Sundays and election silence kicks in one day prior to the start of voting and lasts until the polling stations close. Bosnia and Herzegovina citizens residing abroad keep their full voting rights but rarely exercise it."
9. "Electoral Law – Article 1". InfoLEG (in Portuguese).
10. "Elections Canada". Retrieved 21 November 2017.
11. Law No. 18.700, Aprueba la Ley Orgánica Constitucional sobre Votaciones Populares y Escrutinios. Article 169 ("Los plebiscitos comunales se efectuarán en día domingo."); Article 174 ("Las elecciones no periódicas de Diputados se realizarán en la fecha que establezca el Presidente de la República ... que deberá recaer en un día domingo no anterior al nonagésimo ni posterior al centésimo vigésimo siguiente a la publicación de dicho decreto.").
12. Election Law of Colombia (in Spanish), February 1993, p. 185. “Las elecciones para Congreso de la República se realizarán el segundo domingo de marzo. Las elecciones de Presidente y Vicepresidente se realizarán el segundo domingo de mayo. En caso que debe celebrarse nueva votación, de conformidad con lo dispuesto por el artículo 190 de la Constitución Política, esta tendrá lugar tres (3) semanas mas tarde."
13. "General elections 2017". Radio Prague. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
14. Voting hours for elections in EU Member States (PDF) (Report). Oireachtas Library & Research Service. 30 June 2015. pp. 1–4. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
15. "Holding the Election". www.vaalit.fi. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
16. Electoral Act (Article 150). Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Costa Rica. 2 September 2009. p. 72.
17. Schakel, Arjan H. (2017). Regional and National Elections in Eastern Europe: Territoriality of the Vote in Ten Countries. London: Palgrave Macmillian. ISBN 978-1-137-51787-6. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
18. Folketing (January 2011). "The Parliamentary Electoral System in Denmark" (PDF). p. 18. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
19. Olechno, Artur (2011). Political Systems Of The Central And Eastern European Countries. p. 91. ISBN 9788362813155. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
20. Aggeborn, Linuz (2011). Voting System Voter Turnout Policy Outcome (PDF) (Master's thesis). Uppsala University.
21. "§16 Bundeswahlgesetz". Bundeswahlgesetz Bundesrepublik Deutschland (in German). Bundesministerium der Justiz. 3 June 2008. p. 12. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
22. Arató, Krisztina (2020). "Hungary". In Hloušek, Vít; Kaniok, Petr (eds.). The European Parliament Election of 2019 in East-Central Europe. p. 107. ISBN 9783030408589. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
23. Massicotte, Louis; Blais, André; Yoshinaka, Antoine (January 2004). Establishing the Rules of the Game: Election Laws in Democracies. University of Toronto Press. pp. 116–118. ISBN 978-0802085641.
24. "India Elects 2019: The World's Largest Election, Explained". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
25. "Why do India's elections take so long?". The Economist. 11 April 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
26. LAW OF REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA, NUMBER 7 YEAR 2017, GOVERNING ELECTIONS (167). People's Consultative Assembly of Indonesia. 15 August 2017. p. 116.
27. قانون انتخابات رياست جمهوري ايران [Presidential Electoral Law of the Islamic Republic of Iran] (PDF) (Chapter 20) (in Persian). Islamic Consultative Assembly. 2 March 1992.
28. Ryan, Phillip; Horan, Niamh; O'Connor, Niall (31 January 2016). "Six Nations match at the centre of row over election date - Independent.ie". Independent.ie. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
29. Hoffman, Gil Stern (24 March 2015). "With full term possible, Netanyahu may outlast Ben-Gurion (and Obama)". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
30. Sharabi, Meital (4 April 2019). "Eclectic election day activities". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
31. Hrebenar, Ronald J. (2000). Japan's New Party System. Westview Press. p. 57. ISBN 978-0813330570. The decisions regarding which days will be election days and how the voters will indicate their candidate preferences are uniquely Japanese. Election days call on Sundays in Japan. Because Sunday is a holiday, primary and junior high schools can be used as voting sites; moreover, it is assumed that more citizens will be able to vote on a Sunday. But the choice of which Sunday is usually left up to the politicians.
32. Arda Arsenian Ekmekji (July 2012). Confessionalism and Electoral Reform in Lebanon (PDF) (Report). Aspen Institute. p. 11. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
33. Olechno, Artur (2011). Political Systems Of The Central And Eastern European Countries. pp. 105–108. ISBN 9788362813155. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
34. "Voters reminded not to reveal voting intention at Sunday's polling". 14 June 2019.
35. Cvetanoski, Ilcho (15 July 2020). "North Macedonia at the polls today". OBC Transeuropa. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
36. Wall, Alan (14 June 2012). "Elections in Mexico and the US: Comparisons and contrasts". Mexconnect. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
37. "Law on Election of Councillors and Members of Parliament". Council of Europe, Venice Commission. 18 February 1998.
38. "Elections". European Parliament. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
39. "Election Days – General Elections 1853-2011". nzhistory.govt.nz. Ministry for Culture and Heritage, New Zealand. 24 November 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
40. "The main features of the Norwegian electoral system". Government.no. 6 July 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
41. González, Elizabeth (1 June 2022). "Tribunal Electoral de Panamá convoca a elecciones generales de 2024". CNN (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 July 2022.
42. Carter, Jimmy. "Peru Can Give U.S. Lessons in How to Hold Elections". www.cartercenter.org. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
43. Lazo, Ricardo S. (2009). Philippine governance and the 1987 constitution (2009 2nd ed.). Manila, Philippines: Published & distributed by Rex Book Store. p. 161. ISBN 9789712345463.
44. Grabowska, Miroslava (2016). "Religiosity, the Catholic Church, and Politics in Poland". In Ramet, Sabrina P.; Borowik, Irena (eds.). Religion, Politics, and Values in Poland: Continuity and Change Since 1989. Palgrave MacMillan. p. 268. ISBN 9781137437518. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
45. “Código Electoral de Puerto Rico para el Siglo XXI”: Ley Núm. 78 de 1 de Junio de 2011, según enmendada. CAPÍTULO IX. – PROCEDIMIENTOS ANTERIORES A LA ELECCIÓN; VOTACIÓN: Artículo 9.001. – Fecha de las Elecciones. – (16 L.P.R.A. § 4141) Gobierno de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. p. 66 of 104. Accessed 8 November 2019.
46. "Статья 10. Назначение выборов" [Article 10. Election scheduling]. Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation (in Russian). Retrieved 28 December 2018. Голосование на выборах может быть назначено только на воскресенье.
47. "GE2015: First time Polling Day falls on a Friday, but not first time polls held on a weekday". The Straits Times. 25 August 2015.
48. "180/2014 Z.z. - Zákon o podmienkach výkonu volebnéh..." Slov-lex (in Slovak).
49. Butcher, Luke. "The Effectiveness of Early Voting – A Case Study of the Republic of Korea" (PDF). Retrieved 21 November 2017.
50. "Elecciones Generales". Junta Electoral Central.
51. "Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General". Boletín Oficial del Estado.
52. "Elections in Sweden". V-Dem. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
53. Riksdagsförvaltningen. "Elections to the Riksdag". www.riksdagen.se. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
54. Election Day: Weekend Voting (PDF) (Report). Ministry of Justice of Great Britain. September 2008. p. 10. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
55. "Election Day in Taiwan". Retrieved 23 November 2017.
56. Campbell, Michael (16 December 2016). Election Reform Effects on Policy Targeting: Voter Responses to Rice Subsidies in Thailand (Thesis). University of Colorada–Denver. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
57. "CUMHURBAŞKANI SEÇİMİ KANUNU" [LAW ON THE ELECTION OF THE PRESIDENT (tr)]. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
58. Montanaro, Domenico (1 November 2016). "Why Do We Vote on Tuesdays?". NPR.org. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
59. Alexander, Robin (17 January 2013). "Elections in Venezuela and Pennsylvania: Lessons in Democracy?". North American Congress on Latin America. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
60. Nguyen, Mai Thuyen. "An overall look at Vietnam's election law". Vietnam Law & Legal Forum. Retrieved 2 December 2021. Accordingly, all Vietnamese citizens satisfying the law-specified conditions are entitled to exercise the rights to vote and to stand for election; the Vietnamese State has the obligation to legally guarantee and create favorable conditions for citizens to exercise their rights. The current election law makes it clearer by stipulating that elections will be held on Sundays so that voters may arrange their schedules to go to the polls while polling places must be located at areas convenient for voters and those who cannot go to polling booths may cast their votes with mobile ballot boxes.