为什么美国总统大选日定在星期二？

四年一度的美国总统选举过程漫长而复杂，你可曾好奇过为什么美国大选总是在周二举行？说起来这和马车还有点关系呢。

Ever wonder why Americans always vote in federal elections (and many state, and local elections) on Tuesdays? There are a few reasons—including a little something to do with the horse and buggy.

你是否曾好奇过为什么美国的大选（还有很多州和地方的选举）总是在星期二举行？这里有几个原因，还有一个原因和马车有点关系。

Between 1788 and 1845, states decided their own voting dates. In 2012, Senate historian Don Ritchie told NPR that strategy resulted in chaos, a “crazy quilt of elections” held all across the country at different times to pick the electors—the white, male property owners who would cast their votes for president on the first Wednesday of December.

1788年至1845年间，美国各州自行决定自己的选举日。2012年，参议院历史学家唐纳德·里奇告诉美国国家公共电台，这一策略导致了混乱，美国各地选出选举人的时间不同，选举活动就像“用一条碎布缝成的被单一样”。那时的选举人都是拥有不动产的白人男性，他们将在12月的第一个星期三投票选举总统。

In 1792, a law was passed mandating that state elections be held within a 34-day period before that day, so most elections took place in November. (Society was mostly agrarian; in November, the harvest was finished but winter hadn’t yet hit, making it the perfect time to vote.)

1792年美国通过了一条法律，规定州选举必须在12月第一个星期三之前的34天内举行，因此大部分州选举都在11月举行。（当时美国社会以农耕为主，11月秋收已经结束但冬天还未到来，正好适合开展选举活动。）

The glacial pace of presidential elections wasn’t a huge issue in the late 18th and early 19th centuries—communication was slow, so results took weeks to announce anyway—but with the advent of the railroad and telegraph, Congress decided it was time to standardize a date.

在18世纪末和19世纪初，大选进展缓慢不是什么大问题，因为那时的通讯很慢，大选结果出来了也要过上几周才能通知到各方，但是在铁路和电报面世后，美国国会决定是时候统一选举日了。

Monday was out, because it would require people to travel to the polls by buggy on the Sunday Sabbath. Wednesday was also not an option, because it was market day, and farmers wouldn’t be able to make it to the polls. So it was decided that Tuesday would be the day that Americans would vote in elections, and in 1845, Congress passed a law that presidential elections would be held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

星期一被排除了，因为这样人们可能得在安息日乘坐马车赶往投票处。星期三也不行，因为星期三是赶集日，农民无法在这天去投票。因此就决定让美国民众在星期二这天进行大选投票。1845年，美国国会通过了一项法律，规定11月第一个星期一后的星期二为总统大选日。