The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org. February 1, 2019 McConnell: Dem. Move to Make Election Day a Holiday Is a "Power Grab" --------------------------------------------------------------------- Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mc Connell is openly criticizing a new House bill that would make Election Day a federal holiday. Majority Leader Mitch Mc Connell: "This is the Democrat plan to restore democracy? A brand-new week of paid vacation for every federal employee who'd like to hover around while you cast your ballot? A Washington-based, taxpayer-subsidized clearing house for political campaign funding? A power grab." In response, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand tweeted, "Voting isn't a 'power grab'. It's democracy, and it's literally the entire point of our representative government. And by the way: Not only should Election Day be a federal holiday, we need automatic voter registration and universal mail voting, too." The majority of democracies hold general elections on the weekend, while some others which hold elections on a weekday have made the day a public holiday. .