Samuel Martin - Sandusky, Ohio, Swaps Columbus Day Holiday for Election Day

Sandusky, Ohio, Swaps Columbus Day Holiday for Election Day

Summary
Two weeks ago the board of Sandusky, a city in Ohio, voted to swap Columbus Day holiday with Election Day. They hope that this move will encourage citizens to vote, because they now have time off to do so. This move has sparked national conversation, including questions about the Columbus Day controversy, which was not a major factor in this decision. While the seven city commissioners agreed upon this change, it has taken time for the city to reach this agreement because unions didn't want to give up a paid holiday. 4 years later, a government official came up with the idea to swap Columbus Day with Election Day, which pleased both the city board as well as the unions who didn't want to loose paid holidays because it benefits the union workers twice. City officials believe that this change will allow underrepresented people like minorities to have more access to the polls, and at the same time make those who feel disenfranchised by Columbus Day happy.

Analysis
This article was written Monday, February 11, 2019 in New York, which is a bit behind the date of this bill being published, but also contains reactions about the swap that didn't come immediately. I already knew there was a controversy surrounding Columbus Day, and I think this is a creative way to put people's minds at ease. This relates to the the early 1800's when labor unions were just being formed, and how the government created/change laws because of protests and strikes by unions to raise wages, shorten work times, etc and the people benefited. The people in Sandusky also benefit because they get a holiday off to exercise their right to vote, which was petitioned for by people in the 19th century. The audience of this article is everybody in the United States because this could eventually be copied by their governments. The author is Niraj Chokshi, who is a writer for the New York Times Express Desk who generally covers state government. This article is important because people need to see how other communities are reacting to changes in society and beliefs and we need to decide if we want to follow them or go our own way.

Source
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/11/us/columbus-day-election-day.html