Virginia To Make Election Day a Holiday

Virginia is set to end a holiday celebrating Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson and replace it by making Election Day a civic holiday, CNN reports.

The Virginia House voted earlier this week to remove Lee-Jackson Day from its official list of state holidays, which Gov. Ralph Northam said in his State of the Commonwealth address last month that “commemorates a lost cause,” adding, “it’s time to move on.”

Northam mentioned making Election Day a holiday in his 2020 legislative proposals, saying that it will make voting easier for the people of Virginia. The state Senate passed a bill last month making the same change to the holiday list. Once signed by the governor, Virginia will join Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky and New York as states where Election Day is a civic holiday.