Having just left this question on someone else's LJ, I'm going to put it here too.
So why do Americans have to wait so long to vote? Even the early voters? I am seriously puzzled by this.
We have compulsory voting and very few people are entitled to vote early (which is done by post anyway), so the vast majority of the population vote on the day.
But you are in and out within minutes. Rarely do you have to wait. A couple of minutes, maybe.
It's done on a Saturday. And we have polling stations all over the place. Round here, I think there'd be two or three within the distance a healthy person would stroll without a moment's thought and they are all obvious and easy to find: the town hall/library, local school, scout hall, places like that. Probably several more polling booths to choose from if you wanted to enjoy a walk. Do USAnians have polling booths everywhere?
You can vote at any polling booth you like. If it's not in your electoral area it's an absentee vote, but it's no drama to do one and it's still a quick process. Is it the same in the US?
And IIRC, it's all still done on paper. Including checking of names against the electoral register and crossing them off. Is this the same?
Is it the fact that voting is compulsory and therefore the Electoral Commission simply can not make it hard for people to vote and therefore must pour lots of resources into making the process efficient and hassle free? Or couldn't that just as easily work the other way, in that compulsory voting really puts the onus on the voters to make the effort?
We have compulsory voting and very few people are entitled to vote early (which is done by post anyway), so the vast majority of the population vote on the day.
But you are in and out within minutes. Rarely do you have to wait. A couple of minutes, maybe.
It's done on a Saturday. And we have polling stations all over the place. Round here, I think there'd be two or three within the distance a healthy person would stroll without a moment's thought and they are all obvious and easy to find: the town hall/library, local school, scout hall, places like that. Probably several more polling booths to choose from if you wanted to enjoy a walk. Do USAnians have polling booths everywhere?
You can vote at any polling booth you like. If it's not in your electoral area it's an absentee vote, but it's no drama to do one and it's still a quick process. Is it the same in the US?
And IIRC, it's all still done on paper. Including checking of names against the electoral register and crossing them off. Is this the same?
Is it the fact that voting is compulsory and therefore the Electoral Commission simply can not make it hard for people to vote and therefore must pour lots of resources into making the process efficient and hassle free? Or couldn't that just as easily work the other way, in that compulsory voting really puts the onus on the voters to make the effort?