Election Day or Polling Day is the day on which general elections are held. In many countries, general elections are always held on a Saturday or Sunday, to enable as many voters as possible to participate; while in other countries elections are always held on a weekday. However, some countries, or regions within a country, which hold elections on a weekday declare election day a public holiday. Countries which permit absentee ballots, early ballots or postal votes to be cast by mail before the election avoid the problem altogether by enabling voters to vote on a day that is more convenient to them.
Sundays are the most common day for elections, but this is less true in the Anglosphere; Saturdays are used in New Zealand and Australia, and weekdays for the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. This is partially due to the influence of Protestantism, which historically set restrictions on activities other than church-going during the Sabbath (usually considered as falling on a Sunday).
An election day usually culminates in an election night when the results of the election are tallied and winners are announced.
Election day by country/territory
Country/TerritoryRegionElection daypolitical systemEuropeSunday."THE ELECTORAL CODE OF THE REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA." Law no. 10 019. 29 December 2008.Parliamentary republicSouth AmericaFourth Sunday of October immediately before the end of the current mandates.Federal presidential republicEuropeSunday. Nationalrat elections may be held on another public holiday.Semi-presidential republicOceaniaSaturday for federal, state and most local elections. Postal and early voting permitted. Some local elections are by postal voting only.Parliamentary monarchyEuropeSunday (until 1894, Tuesday).Parliamentary monarchySouth AmericaSunday.Presidential republicEuropeSunday.Parliamentary republicSouth AmericaFirst Sunday of October. Runoffs take place on the last Sunday of the same October.Federal presidential republicEuropeSunday.Parliamentary republicNorth AmericaThird Monday of October every four years, or after Parliament is dissolved by the Governor General.Parliamentary monarchySouth AmericaSunday.Law No. 18.700, Aprueba la Ley Orgánica Constitucional sobre Votaciones Populares y Escrutinios. Article 169 ("Los plebiscitos comunales se efectuarán en día domingo."); Article 174 ("Las elecciones no periódicas de Diputados se realizarán en la fecha que establezca el Presidente de la República ... que deberá recaer en un día domingo no anterior al nonagésimo ni posterior al centésimo vigésimo siguiente a la publicación de dicho decreto.").Presidential republicSouth AmericaSunday: the second Sunday of March for Congress, and the second Sunday of May for President and Vice President.Election Law of Colombia (in Spanish), February 1993, p. 185. "Las elecciones para Congreso de la República se realizarán el segundo domingo de marzo. Las elecciones de Presidente y Vicepresidente se realizarán el segundo domingo de mayo. En caso que debe celebrarse nueva votación, de conformidad con lo dispuesto por el artículo 190 de la Constitución Política, esta tendrá lugar tres (3) semanas mas tarde." |Presidential republicEuropeTraditionally elections are held over two days, starting on a Friday afternoon and ending the following Saturday afternoon.Parliamentary republicEuropeSaturday.Parliamentary republicNorth AmericaSunday: first Sunday of February for the President, Vice-President, and Legislative Assembly; second Sunday of February for municipal elections.Presidential republicEuropeSunday.Parliamentary republicEuropeElections for the Folketing usually occur on Tuesday, but this is not a statutory requirement.Parliamentary monarchySouth AmericaSunday.Presidential republicNorth AmericaSunday.Presidential republicEuropeElections for the Riigikogu, which chooses both the president and prime minister, are on the first Sunday of March.Parliamentary republicEuropeSunday.Parliamentary republicEuropeSunday.Semi-presidential republicEuropeSunday. Elections to the Bundestag may be held on another public holiday.Federal parliamentary republicEuropeSunday.Parliamentary republicAsiaSunday.EuropeSunday.Parliamentary republicEuropeSaturday.Parliamentary republicAsiaElections are held over multiple days. The 2019 Indian general election, which began on a Thursday, took place over seven phases with six days between each phase. Constituencies vote only on the day of their respective phase.Federal parliamentary republicAsiaElections are typically held on a Wednesday since 2009 for presidential elections, and since 2014 for legislative elections; both elections have been held on the same day since 2019. Election dates are determined by the General Elections Commission (Indonesian: Komisi Pemilihan Umum, KPU), but must occur "on a holiday or a day determined as a national holiday" per the Indonesian electoral law of 2017.Presidential republicAsiaFriday for presidential elections.EuropeTypically on a Friday, but precise date set by Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government.Parliamentary republicAsiaBy law on the third Tuesday of Cheshvan, but normally held on a different day. Election day is a holiday in Israel, so people do not have to work.Parliamentary republicEuropeMunicipal, provincial, and regional elections take place on a Sunday, as do elections for the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate and EU Parliament elections. Occasionally Mondays are added as voting day.Parliamentary republicAsiaSunday.Parliamentary monarchyEuropeSaturday.Parliamentary republicAsiaUntil 2009, elections were held over several consecutive Sundays. The most recent election, the 2018 Lebanese general election, was also held on a Sunday.Parliamentary republicEuropeElections for the Seimas are on the second Sunday of October, and for the president the last Sunday two months before the end of the current president's term.Parliamentary republicEuropeSunday.Parliamentary monarchyAsiaSunday.EuropeSunday, but the 2020 North Macedonian parliamentary election departed from this standard. It was held over three weekdays after being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Parliamentary republicEuropeSaturday.Parliamentary republicAsiaSaturday Parliamentary monarchyNorth AmericaFirst Sunday of July until 2018. From 2021, the first Sunday of June.Federal presidential republicEuropeSunday for Parliamentary elections.Parliamentary republicEuropeTypically on a Wednesday. For elections to the European Parliament, Thursday.Parliamentary monarchyOceaniaSaturday.Parliamentary monarchyNorth AmericaSunday.Presidential republicEuropeMonday in early September. Exact date set by the King of Norway.Parliamentary monarchyNorth AmericaSunday.Presidential republicSouth AmericaSunday.Presidential republicSouth AmericaSunday.Presidential republicAsiaSecond Monday in May.Presidential republicEuropeSunday.Semi-presidential republicEuropeSunday.Parliamentary republicNorth AmericaDay after the first Monday in November.“Código Electoral de Puerto Rico para el Siglo XXI”: Ley Núm. 78 de 1 de Junio de 2011, según enmendada. CAPÍTULO IX. – PROCEDIMIENTOS ANTERIORES A LA ELECCIÓN; VOTACIÓN: Artículo 9.001. – Fecha de las Elecciones. – (16 L.P.R.A. § 4141) Gobierno de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. p. 66 of 104. Accessed 8 November 2019.EuropeSunday.Parliamentary republicEuropeSunday.Presidential republicEuropeSunday.Semi-presidential republicAsiaSaturday, in most of all elections except on three elections (2015 Parliamentary, 2020 Parliamentary, and 2023 Presidential), which fell on a Friday instead. By law, polling day is a public holiday, except in by-elections.Parliamentary republicEuropeSaturday.Parliamentary republicEuropeSunday.Parliamentary republicAsiaUsually Wednesday (although the most recent election in 2025 was held on a Tuesday). Election day is a national holiday.Presidential republicEuropeThere is no fixed election day for general elections, although since 1986 every general election has been held on Sunday. Municipal and provincial elections take place on the fourth Sunday of May.Parliamentary monarchyEuropeSecond Sunday of September.Parliamentary monarchyEuropeSaturday and Sunday.Federal parliamentary republicAsiaSaturday.Semi-presidential republicAsiaSunday.Parliamentary monarchyEuropeSunday.Presidential republicEuropeSunday.Semi-presidential republicEuropeThursday. Parliamentary monarchyNorth AmericaAll federal elections take place the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Federal presidential republicSouth AmericaSunday.Presidential republicSouth AmericaSunday.Presidential republicAsiaSunday.
Other bodies Elections to the European Parliament take place over a period of four days (i.e., Thursday through to Sunday), according to the election days of the EU members states (as listed above). There are some exceptions; as Wednesday was not covered by the available dates, the Netherlands holds elections on Thursday, while Denmark holds elections on Sunday. Countries that hold the ballot before Sunday are not permitted to announce results until all other countries have finished voting.
See also Early voting Election silence
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