Future of Lee-Jackson Day In Doubt Over Election Day Holiday Plan

RICHMOND, VA — A Virginia lawmaker wants to get rid of the state's Lee-Jackson holiday celebrating two Confederate generals and replace it with a state holiday on Election Day. Lee-Jackson Day is observed annually in Virginia on the Friday preceding the third Monday in January, which is Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Lee-Jackson Day honors Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, both of whom were native Virginians. The holiday was initially created to celebrate Lee's birthday, which was on Jan. 19. State offices in Virginia are closed for both Lee-Jackson Day and Martin Luther King Day.

Del. Joe Lindsey, a Democrat who represents parts of Norfolk and Virginia Beach, plans to introduce the legislation when the General Assembly convenes in January. The pre-filed bill would designate Election Day, the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, as a state holiday and remove Lee-Jackson Day as a state holiday.

Republican leaders in Virginia have argued that removing statues or holidays that honor and celebrate Confederate leaders who fought for slavery represents a movement to erase history.

A similar bill to designate Election Day as a state holiday and remove Lee-Jackson Day failed to move out of a state Senate committee earlier this year. At the time, though, Republicans controlled the Virginia Senate. With Democrats now controlling both the state House and Senate after the November elections, the bill stands a better chance of passing in 2020.

Gov. Ralph Northam's administration said earlier this year that supported the bill, because making Election Day a state holiday would allow more people the chance to vote.

Turning Election Day into a holiday has gained momentum across the country. A majority of respondents in a 2018 survey said Election Day should be a federal holiday for which everyone gets a day off from work.

According to WHSV in Roanoke, Virgina state Sen. Louise Lucas, a Democrat who represents Portsmouth and other parts of southeastern Virginia, has pointed out that there have been cases where voters had to leave polls before casting their votes, simply because they had to return to work. "Making Election Day a state holiday would make it easier for Virginians to vote," she said.

As the Washington Post reported in 2018, Confederate history's grip on official Virginia is not as ironclad as it used to be. Although the holiday remains in place, a growing number of cities across the state such as Richmond, Fredericksburg, Blacksburg, Newport News, Hampton, Winchester, Fairfax and Charlottesville have chosen not to officially observe the Lee-Jackson holiday.

In 1984, Virginia's General Assembly voted to add Martin Luther King Jr.'s name to Lee-Jackson Day, renaming it Lee-Jackson-King Day. But in the years that followed, both Democrats and Republicans realized simultaneously celebrating the lives of two Confederate generals who fought to maintain slavery and a civil rights leader didn't make sense. In 2000, the state legislature separated the two days, arranging that Lee-Jackson Day would be held on the Friday before MLK Day.