In a web exclusive video from Last Week Tonight host John Oliver, the HBO host presents the background behind why we vote on Tuesdays when most Americans have to work — and then use that as a reason for not showing up.

As the video shows, voters in early America often had to travel long distances to vote and refused to hold elections on Sundays for religious reasons. With the travel turning it into a two-day affair, voters then traveled on Mondays to vote on Tuesday.

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According to the clip, despite the passage of time, voters are still forced to the polls on Tuesday, “just so farmers who have been dead for more than a century won’t have an excuse to miss church.”

Watch the video below via YouTube: