America has silly holidays such as Valentine’s Day and Halloween and patriotic holidays such as Labor Day and Memorial Day. We celebrate the Declaration of Independence with the Fourth of July.

We even remember Christopher Columbus, and he isn’t even from our country. Election Day, however, remains unrecognized as a federal holiday.

Citizens are strongly encouraged to vote, even pressured, and a national holiday would make exercising the right to vote easier for many citizens.

Imagine a celebration dedicated to relieving everyone of their burdens, so the day could be dedicated to casting ballots. That would put the ultimate icing on the cake.

Voting was made simple for NIU students because of their busy schedules.

“It was right at the Recreation Center so it was easy,” said Thomas Bolin, freshman mechanical engineering major.

Freshman undecided major, Rocco Conte, agrees voting was easy.

“I thought it was going to be crowded but it only took a few minutes,” Conte said.

Other areas in the country, however, cannot vote as easily.

John Chase and David Kidwell from the Chicago Tribune wrote their prediction that despite early voter turnout, lines would certainly be long on Election Day.

Not surprisingly, Nov. 4 experienced a record high voter turnout.

“I think it would be a lot more difficult to vote in other places because I always hear about long lines,” Bolin said. “That’s why a lot of people don’t do it. If no one worked on that day it would help a lot and people would not have an excuse to not vote.”

Declaring Election Day an official holiday won’t solve line issues, but voters wouldn’t have to worry about anything else but voting. There could even be concessions for long lines, making the holiday fun.

An Election Day holiday would make voting practical and draw more votes.

A lot of things have special days, and the right to vote deserves one as well.