Will schools be open on Election Day 2024? What you should know

Election Day 2024 is here and you may have some questions about election protocol.

If you've already voted, well done. If not, check with local polling stations to find out the hours and times when you can still vote this year.

Cities across the country are using local schools as polling places. For this reason, you may be wondering if schools will be open on Election Day.

In fact, many schools will close on Tuesday, November 5th to avoid congestion and traffic problems that could arise from the influx of voters and school buses, as well as the drop-off and pick-up of children throughout the day.

Security concerns at certain polling locations have also led some officials to close their schools out of an abundance of caution.

If you're concerned about your own school district and whether school will be in session on Election Day, here's what you need to do now.

Will schools be open on Election Day 2024?

There are 11 federal holidays throughout the year.

Although Election Day is not officially a federal holiday, many schools are closed on this day and a number of employers give their employees part or all of the day off to give them enough time to vote.

To mark Election Day 2024, many public schools across the U.S. will be closed or have a day of no-attendance for students, including in major cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Washington DC

However, not all schools will be closed on November 5th, which means you'll need to check your local school district's calendar to see if your school is included or not.

In which states is Election Day a holiday?

There are 13 states in the USA that have declared Election Day a holiday. While all of these states have adopted the day as a public holiday, five of them require their employers to provide them with paid time off to vote, which you can see below.

The states include:

• Delaware
• Hawaii (paid time off)
• Illinois (paid time off)
• Indiana
• Louisiana
• Maryland (paid time off)
• Michigan
• Montana
• New Jersey
• New York (paid time off)
• Rhode Island
• Virginia
• West Virginia (paid time off)