People On Twitter Explain How American Voting Works And People From Other Countries Can’t Believe It
Voting is done differently around the world. There are different systems of voting whereby either the popular vote wins or voters decide on reps who decide on the winner and whatnot.
But then there’s also the process of voting—where do people go, how do they cast their vote, and, most importantly, how long will it take. Well, the last one, turns out, is in HUGE contrast when it comes to the US and the rest of the world.
Apparently, Americans spend countless hours queuing and waiting for their turn to enter the voting booth and to cast their vote, whereas the rest of the world spends around as much time voting as one would spend waiting for the barista to make and deliver their coffee at Starbucks.
The internet is left surprised with how long Americans have to wait in line just so that they could vote
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So, since it’s voting season in the US, a lot of Americans are sharing their considerably extreme voting experiences on Twitter. And then there’s Europeans and everyone else sharing their complete opposite experiences.
Turns out, people in the US often stand in line for hours, and I do mean literally hours
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A number of US citizens shared how they stood in line for two hours at the very least to a whopping eleven hours just so that they could vote. Talk about dedication to your country!
While some stand in line for about 2 hours, Johnta Austin had to do so for a whopping 11 hours!
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Here’s what a typical voting line looks like as shown by one Twitter user
And it doesn’t matter what weather it is either—people are committed
This prompted a response from people from other countries around the world: Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, and others. It turned out, the amount of time citizens of these countries spent partaking in the voting process was around three minutes. At worst, it was fifteen minutes. See the stark contrast here?
More specifically, in Sweden, it was three minutes because there was a senior in a wheelchair in the queue; in France, hardly no waiting time and no more than 10-people queues; in Canada, no more than two minutes; in Australia, where voting is mandatory, no more than three minutes. The list goes on and on.
It wasn’t long until someone asked the question—how long does voting take outside of the US?
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Many internauts from Europe, Australia, Canada, Mexico and other places responded with the opposite of what US voters experience
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So, why are Americans practically breaking records with their queuing to vote? The short answer seems to be the lack of resources (polling locations, voting station employees, etc.) to deal with the huge demand.
The longer answer, though, is “it’s complicated.” Besides the fact that too many people show up and there aren’t enough polling stations and people managing them, there’s also the long voting process within the ballots, technical problems, lack of polling station staff training, underfunding of election administrations, and a number of other small problems that make up one huge issue.
For the most part, the average voter outside the US spends around 2–3 minutes and no more than 20 voting
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Though, interesting to think, but some say that the long lines aren’t all that bad. It is said to be a celebration by those who endure them—it is a sign of patriotic enthusiasm. Others do think it’s more a form of sadism rather than a celebration, but nobody’s judging if it works for people.
What are your thoughts on this? Tell us your voting experience in your country in the comment section below!
Anyone would think that someone was trying to make it difficult to vote. And, as this is not a new thing, just a made much worse by Corona and Trump's bully boy tactics thing, it seems to be endemic in the system. So someone must be benefitting from it.
It's sad that my relatives live in a country where owning firearms is a right, voting is a privilege and health care is a luxury.
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The pictures of people lining up for hours to vote in the USA always shock me. I am hugely impressed with their determination, but appalled at what the have to endure. I'm a dual citizen and have voted in both Canada and in the UK and have never waited more than 5 minutes to vote.
Yeah, they’re between a rock (queuing for hours) and a hard place (another 4 years of this regime and possibly losing democracy, according to people who have survived autocracies). F**k voter suppression so incredibly hard.
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Unfortunately, voter suppression is alive and doing very well in the US. Texas has limited drop boxes for ballots to 1 per county regardless of population. Some counties have over a million people. Georgia was so badly gerrymandered (re-arranging voting boundaries to favor one party) at one point, it wasn't considered a Democracy. Also, the Secretary of State was in charge of an election that he was participating in. The manipulation of voters is to discourage them from voting. This year it's backfired. That's why these long lines exist. People are determined to show their power and not let this obvious voter suppression fly. GO JOE!
1 ballot box for a million people? that is not democracy. I live in a small town, we had 4 ballot boxes for 1,200 people, and we didn't que at all. I walked in, got my voting paper, they gave me a pen (mine to keep) and I voted. I didn't even bring anything with me, it's all provided. No ques, no cops, no problems.
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Anyone would think that someone was trying to make it difficult to vote. And, as this is not a new thing, just a made much worse by Corona and Trump's bully boy tactics thing, it seems to be endemic in the system. So someone must be benefitting from it.
It's sad that my relatives live in a country where owning firearms is a right, voting is a privilege and health care is a luxury.
Load More Replies... The pictures of people lining up for hours to vote in the USA always shock me. I am hugely impressed with their determination, but appalled at what the have to endure. I'm a dual citizen and have voted in both Canada and in the UK and have never waited more than 5 minutes to vote.
Yeah, they’re between a rock (queuing for hours) and a hard place (another 4 years of this regime and possibly losing democracy, according to people who have survived autocracies). F**k voter suppression so incredibly hard.
Load More Replies... Unfortunately, voter suppression is alive and doing very well in the US. Texas has limited drop boxes for ballots to 1 per county regardless of population. Some counties have over a million people. Georgia was so badly gerrymandered (re-arranging voting boundaries to favor one party) at one point, it wasn't considered a Democracy. Also, the Secretary of State was in charge of an election that he was participating in. The manipulation of voters is to discourage them from voting. This year it's backfired. That's why these long lines exist. People are determined to show their power and not let this obvious voter suppression fly. GO JOE!
1 ballot box for a million people? that is not democracy. I live in a small town, we had 4 ballot boxes for 1,200 people, and we didn't que at all. I walked in, got my voting paper, they gave me a pen (mine to keep) and I voted. I didn't even bring anything with me, it's all provided. No ques, no cops, no problems.
Load More Replies...
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