Surprising reason why elections are held on Tuesday

Tuesdays may seem like a random day of the week for Americans to vote, but it was actually chosen with practicality in mind at the time.

In 1845, U.S. lawmakers decided to pass a measure that would make federal elections held on a common day throughout the country instead of continuing a chaotic patchwork of state ballots.

Congress was also concerned that results from early voting areas were influencing later participants in terms of outcome and turnout.

So they picked a day for the nation to vote and decided on Tuesday because citizens could observe the Sabbath on Sunday, spend Monday in their buggies getting to the polling place, and be back by Wednesday which was a common market day.

Despite the convenience for voters in the 19th century, some critics have blamed the weekday event on America's relatively low voter turnout rates.

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