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President Sindevir signs Alinnian Election Protection Act, makes Election Day a federal holiday
Gabriel DeSanto — The Alinnian Herald

Worrying about having to squeeze in voting during an Election Day while working will now be a fad of the past. The Sentinel convened and put forth the Alinnian Election Protection (AEP) Act for executive review. President Sindevir signed it quite swiftly.

Under the new regulations of the AEP Act, all employers across the country must now shut down their businesses on election days, allowing every Alinnian a fair opportunity to vote. “The dip in the workforce participation rate as well as economic output, we feel, is well worth allowing every Alinnian an equal opportunity to have their voice heard at the polls,” commented Premier of Domestic Affairs Angelica Freeze, whose premiership is responsible for conducting elections and deal with electoral mechanics across the country. During the press conference after the bill signing, President Sindevir also commented on how the nation “will be better off losing a day of worker productivity and output because more Alinnian voices will be heard.”

As a result of election days becoming federal holidays, employers will be required to give workers the day off work and pay them 75% of their pay for the day. Salary workers’ pay must remain unaffected in any contract negotiations as a result. Companies may be excessively fined if found to have violated the statues of the Act. Premier Freeze stated that while the administration desired for a full wage replacement, “Senators close to the President advised her it would ‘harm the purpose of the legislation by potentially politicizing election day’.”

The bill did not pass without opposition, however, as Conservative senators rallied against the economic loss. Conservative Minority Leader Lorianne Huggleston lambasted that “employers already give their workers copious leeway in allowing them to leave the workplace to vote on election days” and that as a result of this bill’s passage, “Alinnian workers will lose their jobs because of an issue that is meant to be dealt with by districts vis-a-vié the Devolution Act.” The remaining eight conservative senators in the Sentinel voted against the legislation alongside Huggleston, but the bill passed with the eleven Democratic Centrist senator majority.