Ohio City Dumps Columbus Day, Makes Election Day a Holiday Instead

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AFP

The northern Ohio city of Sandusky is moving to take Columbus Day off its official holiday list and will instead make Election Day a holiday for city workers.

City commissioners announced the change to take effect immediately at its recent city meeting, according to the Sandusky Register.

“We are swapping them to prioritize Voting Day as a day off so that our employees can vote. It’s also because Columbus Day has become controversial, and many cities have eliminated it as a holiday,” city manager Eric Wobser said.

City workers will not lose a paid vacation day with the move to swap out Columbus Day for Election Day, council members noted.

“What better way to celebrate the value of our employees and citizens than by removing barriers for them to participate in the greatest of American innovations, our democracy,” a post on the city government’s Facebook explained.

Replies on the Facebook post are decidedly mixed on the city’s move.

Cities across America have recently begun eliminating Columbus Day with many replacing it with a s0-called “Indigenous Peoples’ Day” holiday.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.

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