Why do Americans vote on Tuesdays?

為什麼美國人在週二投票?- Jacob Soboroff

426,429 views ・ 2012-04-10

TED-Ed


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譯者: Sherri Wu 審譯者: Geoff Chen
(音樂)
我想來告訴大家一段美國歷史
00:14
I want to tell you all about a piece of American history
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因為太不為人知了
00:17
that is so secret,
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00:19
that nobody has done anything about it for 167 years,
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所以從來沒人研究過它
就這樣過了167年
00:24
until right now.
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直到現在
00:26
And the way that we're going to uncover this vestigial organ of America past
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而我們用來揭秘這段美國歷史的方法
00:30
is by asking this question:
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就是問:為什麼?
00:32
Why?
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我們都知道
00:34
As we all know --
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00:35
(Laughter)
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(笑聲)
00:37
we are in the middle of another presidential election,
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現在又一屆的總統選舉正如火如荼
如各位所見,煙硝味很重
00:40
hotly contested, as you can see.
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00:41
(Laughter)
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00:42
But what you may not know is that American voter turnout
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但大家可能不知道,美國的投票率
在世界排名上是墊底的
00:46
ranks near the bottom of all countries in the entire world,
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00:49
138th of 172 nations.
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172國裡排第138
00:52
This is the world's most famous democracy.
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這可是世界第一的民主國家耶
所以
00:55
So ...
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到底我們為什麼訂週二為投票日?
00:59
Why do we vote on Tuesday?
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有人知道嗎?
01:02
Does anybody know?
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其實密西根和亞利桑那州是今天投票
01:05
And as a matter of fact, Michigan and Arizona are voting today.
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答案是:
01:08
Here's the answer:
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沒有為什麼
01:10
Absolutely no good reason whatsoever.
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我可不是在說笑
01:13
(Laughter)
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01:14
I'm not joking.
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你們找不到答案的
01:16
You will not find the answer in the Declaration of Independence,
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獨立宣言裡沒提
01:19
nor will you find it in the Constitution.
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憲法裡也沒說
01:21
It is just a stupid law from 1845.
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這一切只因1845年的一則笨條文
01:24
(Laughter)
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(笑聲)
1845年時,美國人交通都靠馬車
01:30
In 1845, Americans traveled by horse and buggy.
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所以很顯然
01:33
As did I, evidently.
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01:34
It took a day to get to the county seat to vote, a day to get back,
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去趟省城投票往往得花個一、二天
而且安息日(週日)又不能遠遊
01:37
and you couldn't travel on the Sabbath, so, Tuesday it was.
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所以就訂週二投票囉
我不常駕馬車出遊
01:42
I don't often travel by horse and buggy, I would imagine most of you don't,
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我想你們多半也不常吧
所以當我發現這個解釋時,我覺得很妙
01:46
so when I found out about this, I was fascinated.
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於是組了個叫「為何是週二」的團體
01:48
I linked up with a group called, what else -- "Why Tuesday?"
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去尋訪一些國內頗有名望的政治人物
01:51
to go and ask our nation's most prominent elected leaders
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01:54
if they knew the answer to the question,
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看他們知不知道這個問題的答案:
01:56
"Why do we vote on Tuesday?"
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「為什麼訂週二為投票日?」
(影片)Rick Santorum: 有人知道嗎?
01:59
(Video) Rick Santorum: Anybody knows? OK, I'm going to be stumped on this.
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好吧,儘管很冒昧:有人知道我們為何選在週二投票嗎?
02:03
Anybody knows why we vote on Tuesdays?
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您知道嗎?
02:05
Jacob Soboroff: Do you happen to know? Ron Paul: On Tuesdays?
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Ron Paul:週二嗎?
11月的第一個週二
02:08
JS: The day after the first Monday in November.
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我不清楚起源是什麼
02:10
RP: I don't know how that originated.
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您知道我們為何選在週二投票嗎?
02:12
JS: Do you know why we do vote on Tuesday? Newt Gingrich: No.
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Newt Gingrich: 不知道
Dick Lugar: 不清楚
02:15
Dick Lugar: No, I don't. (Laughter)
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Dianne Feinstein: 不知道
02:17
Dianne Feinstein: I don't. Darrell Issa: No.
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Darrell Issa: 不知道
02:19
John Kerry: In truth, really, I'm not sure why.
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John Kerry: 老實說,我不太知道為什麼
(笑聲)
02:23
JS: OK, thanks very much.
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02:24
(Laughter)
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這些可是為選舉日而活的人呢
02:27
JS: These are people that live for election day,
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02:29
yet they don't know why we vote on that very day.
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但他們都不知道為什麼我們訂那天為投票日
02:32
(Laughter)
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Chris Rock (著名喜劇演員)說:那些人不希望大家去投票
02:33
Chris Rock said, "They don't want you to vote.
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否則不會訂週二為投票日
02:36
If they did, we wouldn't vote on a Tuesday in November.
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你在週二開過party嗎?
02:39
Have you ever thrown a party on a Tuesday?
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02:41
(Laughter)
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當然沒有,因為沒人會來。
02:42
No, of course not. Nobody would show up."
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02:45
(Laughter)
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(笑聲)
02:48
Here's the cool part.
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現在是很酷的部分了
02:49
Because we asked this question, "Why Tuesday?"
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因為我們問了「為何是週二」這個問題,現在有個「週末投票」的提案了
02:51
there is now this bill, the Weekend Voting Act
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就在美國國會裡
02:54
in the Congress of the United States of America.
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02:56
It would move election day from Tuesday to the weekend,
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如果通過就能把投票日改到週末
02:59
so that -- duh -- more people can vote.
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這樣一來 - 還用說嗎 - 更多人就能投票啦
03:01
(Applause)
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(掌聲)
不過過了167年而已
03:06
It has only taken 167 years,
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03:08
but finally, we are on the verge of changing American history.
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但我們總算要開始改變
美國歷史了。謝謝各位
03:12
Thank you very much.
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03:13
(Applause)
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(掌聲)
03:17
Thanks a lot.
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03:18
(Applause)
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