Rock the vote

John Quiggin asks why Americans vote on a Tuesday. Two answers: 1) There are sizeable religious groups in the United States forbidden to vote on both weekend days, as Quiggin suggests; I presume there are muslims also forbidden to vote on Friday, but don't know enough about muslim theology to be sure. 2) Public employees get the mid-week voting day off. They are a lobbying block against change to weekends. As with any political question, when the question is "Why don't we . . . ?" The answer is usually that don'ting is in the interest of one or more groups.

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http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2007/09/rock-the-vote/2015/