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In the United States, the presidential election is always held on the Tuesday every four years, right after the first Monday in November. How is this day decided? For experts there are historical reasons.
Between 1788 and 1845, each state in the US set its own election date, without worrying about "synchronizing" with the others. The only requirement was that voting for the election of the President of the United States be completed by the first Wednesday in December.
In 1792, a law decreed that voting must take place in the 34 days before that date. A choice motivated by the fact that the society was essentially agricultural. November was the end of the harvest and it was the quietest time for landowners and farmers. Considering that only white male landowners could vote, it was an ideal time to go to the polls.
But such a long period of time created much confusion and uncertainty of results, especially with the advent of telegraphs and railroads that made communications faster.
At the dawn of 1845, Congress decided it was time to standardize a date. Monday was out of the question because many voters had to be asked to leave home on Sunday, in a buggy, to get to the polling stations. And Sunday and the day of rest were holy. They should not be spent neither for the vote nor for going to the polls.
Wednesday wasn't good either, because it was market day and farmers couldn't go to vote. So it was decided that Tuesday would be the day Americans would vote in the election. More specifically, the Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
Elections in the USA are not repeated under any circumstances and are not skipped. There was also a vote in 1864, at the height of the Civil War. If none of the candidates receives the majority of voters, the House of Representatives elects the president from the three who received the most votes. In 1801 there was a 269-269 tie when the Speaker of the House gave the victory to Thomas Jefferson and in 1825 to John Quincy Adams.
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