While Election Day is not a federal holiday in the U.S., there are some states that have it designated as a public holiday and therefore certain businesses or services may not be available on Nov. 5.
For the most part, post offices, banks and schools will be open on Election Day.
Whether or not state offices and things like public libraries and parks are open depends on how the individual state observes Election Day.
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There are 13 states that have it designated as a public holiday:
- Delaware
- Hawaii (required to give employees paid time off)
- Illinois (required to give employees paid time off)
- Indiana
- Louisiana
- Maryland (required to give employees paid time off)
- Michigan
- Montana
- New Jersey
- New York (required to give employees paid time off)
- Rhode Island
- Virginia
- West Virginia (required to give employees paid time off)
Some states use schools and libraries as polling centers, so even if it's not an official holiday there are individual districts that may have closures.
There aren’t any major retailers like Target and Walmart or grocery store chains that close for Election Day. But there are some niche stores, like Patagonia, that close for the day and give their employees paid time off to encourage them to vote.
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