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Sarah M.
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A Call to Every American

Election Day
Is Our Civic Holiday.

In America, voters are supposed to pick our leaders. Showing up — voting, driving neighbors, staffing the polls — is how we make sure that stays true. The civic holiday is a day you give to your community. If you've voted, help someone else. Make it a celebration. Make it visible. Make it ours.

Join In How It Works
VOTE ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ OFFICIAL BALLOT BOX UNITED STATES
4,217 Americans have committed to the Civic Holiday — to vote, protect our vote, and make sure every vote counts.
What Is a Civic Holiday?
"In America, voters are supposed to pick our leaders.
Let's act like it."

Most of us — across races, places, and parties — believe the same basic thing: voters should pick our leaders, and every vote that's cast should be counted. That's not a partisan position. It's the foundation.

And yet: across the country, eligible voters are being wiped from rolls without warning. New requirements — passports, birth certificates, proof of citizenship — are being added that are specifically harder for working people, elderly Americans, people with disabilities, and Black and Brown communities to produce. Polling locations in those same communities are being reduced or moved. Mail-in voting, a lifeline for millions, is under sustained pressure. This isn't about making elections more trustworthy. It's about controlling who gets to participate — so the people doing it can stay in power.

A civic holiday is our answer — and it's a practical one. When millions of us show up to vote, drive neighbors to the polls, staff polling places, and witness the count, we make it much harder to keep people from voting and much harder to manipulate what happens after. Showing up in numbers is a form of protection. It's also a celebration. It's voting as defiance, as joy, and as community — all at once.

If you've already voted, you're not done. Help someone else. That's what Hands off our vote looks like in practice.

Part of a Bigger Plan

The Election Protection
Playbook

The civic holiday is one of six coordinated actions to make sure voters pick our leaders — and every vote cast gets counted. Each one builds on the others.

Step 01
Reach the 89 million who sat out
Non-voters aren't a monolith — they're reachable. Find three people in your life: a family member, a coworker, a neighbor. Get them registered and get them out.
Step 02
Check your registration — now and often
Eligible voters are being removed from rolls across the country. Check your status today at vote.org. Check again 30 days before the election. Help your three people do the same.
Step 03
Vote early — make it collective
Early voting isn't just convenient. It's a visible act of collective power. Organize group trips. Souls to the Polls. Pair a vote with a moment of community. Numbers matter — before Election Day too.
Step 04
Treat Election Day like a civic holiday
Not a chore. A celebration. A block party with a ballot box. Staff the polls. Drive your neighbors. Create a welcoming atmosphere. Every eligible voter should have equal say in the decisions that impact our lives.
★ You are here
Step 05
Count every vote — be there till it's done
After Election Day, the count must be witnessed. Peaceful, visible presence at counting locations until every ballot is certified. Voters pick our leaders — that's only true if every vote is counted.
Step 06
If needed: economic non-cooperation
If the will of the people is overridden, the answer is collective economic withdrawal. Build this capacity now. People who've acted together once are far more likely to act together again.
How We Spend Our Civic Holiday

Six Ways to
Show Up

01
Vote
First and foundational. Voting is how we impact our lives — our healthcare, our schools, our wages, our neighborhoods. Every eligible American deserves equal say in those decisions. If you haven't voted yet, Election Day is your day. Find your polling place, bring a friend, and go.
02
Souls to the Polls
The proud tradition of organizing rides so that neighbors who can't easily get to a polling place don't have to go alone. Offer your car, join a ride network, or coordinate with your church, union, or neighborhood group. Nobody should miss a vote for lack of a ride.
03
Be a Poll Worker
Elections don't run themselves — they run on the people who show up to staff them. Poll workers are the backbone of every election. Training takes just a few hours, and most jurisdictions pay a stipend. Your community needs you inside that polling place.
04
Bring a Celebration to the Polls
Set up near a polling place with music, snacks where permitted, signs of welcome, and good energy. A festive, friendly presence makes voting feel like the community celebration it is — and it's a direct, joyful answer to anyone trying to make voters feel unwelcome or afraid. Nobody should be kept from voting by an atmosphere of intimidation.
05
Watch and Witness
Voters should pick our leaders — but that's only true if every vote that's cast gets counted. Nonpartisan observers are a vital check on that process. You don't need a law degree to sign up. Organizations in your state will tell you exactly how to register as an official observer and what to watch for.
06
Your Community, Your Way
Help people check their registration — voter rolls are being purged and eligible voters are being removed. Host a GOTV phone bank. Knock on doors in your precinct. Bring food and good energy somewhere. Every community has different needs and different openings. This is a shared banner — figure out what fits yours.
Common Questions

People Are Asking…

Because right now, eligible voters are being wiped from rolls without notice. States are adding requirements — passports, birth certificates, proof of citizenship — that millions of legal, registered voters simply can't produce quickly. Polling locations in Black and Brown neighborhoods keep getting cut or consolidated. Mail-in voting, which millions depend on, is under sustained pressure. None of this is about fraud — there's no credible evidence of widespread fraud in American elections. This is about making it harder for specific communities to vote, so the people engineering these obstacles can stay in power regardless of what the rest of us want. A political party earns your vote. What's happening now is something else. The civic holiday is one part of our answer: show up in numbers so large that keeping people from voting becomes very, very hard.
A civic holiday is different from a personal day off. Think about Memorial Day — the people who observe it meaningfully don't just fire up the grill; they visit memorials, honor veterans, and mark something larger than themselves. That's what we're asking for on Election Day. A day you give to your community. Vote. Help someone else vote. Staff a polling place. Create a welcoming presence outside one. Make it a celebration — because voting is how we impact our lives, and that's worth celebrating. You're not checking out. You're showing up.
Yes — we support that push completely. Making Election Day a federal holiday would make it harder to keep working people from voting, and we're for it. But right now it isn't one, and we're not waiting. Voters don't need permission to act like voters. We're building the norm while we fight for the law — because every year more people treat it like a civic holiday, the harder it becomes to argue it shouldn't be one officially.
One hundred percent yes. Mail-in voting is safe, secure, and essential — it's how people with disabilities, seniors, parents juggling work and kids, and essential workers participate without being kept from voting by the logistics of Election Day. We fully support mail-in ballots, early voting, and drop boxes. The civic holiday adds to your options. It never takes any away. However you cast your ballot is the right choice for you.
You're exactly who we need on Election Day. Now go help someone else. Offer a neighbor a ride. Show up at a polling place with good energy — music, signs, snacks if you've got them. Volunteer as a poll worker or election observer. Call people you know who might need a nudge. Having already voted means you're free to spend the whole day making sure others can too. That's the civic holiday in action.
Souls to the Polls is a proud and powerful American tradition — particularly rooted in Black church communities — of organizing communal trips to polling places, often on Sundays before an election. It turns voting into a collective, joyful act rather than a solitary errand. You don't have to wait for Sunday. On Election Day, the same spirit applies: gather your people, carpool together, walk in as a group. Voting in community is voting with purpose.
That's okay — a civic holiday doesn't require a full day. In most states, your employer is already legally required to give you time off to vote. Even where it isn't required, many offer it voluntarily — ask. Use your lunch hour. Vote before or after your shift. One of the things the civic holiday is directly pushing back against is the reality that working people are effectively kept from voting by long lines and inflexible schedules. Use whatever time you have. Vote first. Then do what you can to help someone else.
Essential workers are who this movement is fighting for, and we're not asking you to leave your post. Nurses, teachers, transit drivers, grocery workers — the country runs because of you. Vote before your shift, on your break, or after. Use a mail-in ballot if that works better. And know that when others take time to staff polling places, drive voters, and create welcoming atmospheres at the polls — they're doing it for you too.
Businesses Standing Up

Give Your Team
the Civic Holiday

If you run a business, there are two easy, nonpartisan ways to make sure your employees can fully participate on Election Day — and signal that a healthy democracy is good for business.

Time to Vote
Make Time to Vote Pledge

A nonpartisan business coalition — founded by Patagonia, PayPal, and Levi Strauss — where CEOs sign a pledge that no employee has to choose between a paycheck and voting. Over 2,000 companies have joined. Now part of the Civic Alliance.

Sign the Pledge →
Civic Alliance
Join the Civic Alliance

America's premier nonpartisan coalition of 1,300+ businesses committed to strengthening democracy. Members pledge to encourage employees and customers to vote, support election officials, and uphold democratic norms. Free to join.

Join the Alliance →
Also Observing the Civic Holiday

Organizations & Businesses

These organizations and companies are committing to the Civic Holiday — giving workers time to participate and supporting their communities on Election Day.

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