THE 11TH HOUR OF THE 11TH DAY OF THE 11TH MONTH Why Veterans Day and the Number 11 Go Hand in Hand
Veterans Day comes every Nov. 11. It’s a national holiday that recognizes veterans who served in the United States Armed Forces and honors those both living and deceased. Historically, the day marks Armistice Day and the end of the Great War: World War I. But what is the significance of the number 11? The armistice was signed at 5:45 a.m. in France, but it took effect at 11 a.m. that same morning — which happened to be Nov. 11, 1918. The armistice originally lasted 36 days but was extended month after month. This led to the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919, when peace was officially declared.
Later that year, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed that Nov. 11 would be known as Armistice Day to honor those who fought in the Great War. This lasted until 1954, when President Dwight Eisenhower signed a proclamation turning Armistice Day into Veterans Day. The change was made in order to recognize all veterans who had honorably served their country. By 1954, the U.S. had fought in more wars — specifically World War II and the Korean War — and hundreds of thousands more Americans had served. Unsurprisingly, there was some political drama surrounding the day. In 1968, Congress made Veterans Day a federal holiday under the Uniform Holiday Bill. The idea was to increase the number of three-day weekends in the year. Veterans Day became a holiday that would fall on the fourth Monday of October, a far cry from Nov. 11.
However, in 1978, Veterans Day was restored to its original Nov. 11 date. But why?
The answer is simple. It’s a number that sticks with you. When the clock strikes 11:11, you always take notice. By that same notion, we all remember the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Because of this, we’ll never forget the end of the Great War, nor will we forget those who served.
From the Mailbox to the Ballot Box The Complex History of Voting by Mail
Voting has long been a right for American citizens, and it is an important way for people to effect change on a national level.
the only way to cast a ballot. Experts at National Geographic report that this was done to protect the “purity” of the vote.
This year’s COVID-19 pandemic may have stolen some of the spotlight from the election, but it has also ignited a debate about how we vote. During the pandemic, mail-in voting has become more popular, and NPR estimates that at least 70% of voters will cast their ballot by mail for the 2020 presidential election. However, the ability to do this differs by state. Nine states and Washington, D.C., mailed ballots to every eligible voter, while seven others have proclaimed that COVID-19 is not a valid excuse to warrant a mail-in or absentee ballot. Why are states so varied in their approaches to mail-in voting? To answer that, we have to go back in time. Mail-in voting began as a way to give Civil War soldiers who were stranded far away from home an opportunity to vote in the 1864 presidential election. From 1862 to 1865, 20 states passed laws that required absentee ballots for soldiers. Meanwhile, nine states fought these laws all the way to their state Supreme Courts, and four states struck down the laws and upheld in-person voting as
However, since that time, every state in the Union has passed laws that allow mail-in voting of some kind, largely to increase access to voting. Each state still has the leeway to determine voter eligibility, the rules of the process, and the legality of mail-in voting. Today, voting by mail is actually much more secure than it was in the mid-1800s. State laws were created to suppress voter fraud by requiring notary signatures and/or specialty ballot boxes. According to experts, those laws seem to be working. NPR reports that of the 250 million ballots that have been cast by mail nationwide in the past 20 years, only 143 have led to criminal convictions. Mail-in voting may never leave its controversial past behind, and its prevalence in future elections is yet to be determined. But from a legal standpoint, as long as you follow your state’s regulations, you don’t have to fear breaking any laws when you vote by mail.
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Published by The Newsletter Pro • www.newsletterpro.com
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