Voting

[dawbs]

The fact that each state has different rules is one of the reasons it takes longer.
The fact that each county/precinct/etc in each state has it's own version of ballots, etc is also a contributing factor.
(example, my state allows 'no reason' absentee--I just have to state I'll be unable to go on X day and I can mail it in.  But we do not allow any sort of early voting)

I voted absentee (not my preference, there have been issues in the past on how these are counted--but I didn't want to take time off work.  I could get the time, but it would be inconvenient and a waste of my 'time off', IMO.  And if I'm not there, it's harder for the young people who are new at this [who work for me] to take the time off), and it took me well over 4 hours of research to get enough information to be an informed voter (and I wasn't completely uneducated before I started--I'm decently well read and up to date w/ news)

Mr. Dawbs went in person to vote and waited under 10 minutes and the voting itself (we don't have a machine, we have ballots you fill out and put in privacy sleeves) took 5-10 minutes (he had already researched before hand [actually, he had already stolen allof MY notes and research, same diff ;=P], it would have been much longer if he'd had to read all of it there.  )

[Slartibartfast]

The other big holdup is the training of the poll workers.  Each state has different rules about what you need to vote - picture ID, non-picture ID, just your name, etc.  They all also have different rules about how far in advance of the election you have to be registered by (up to and including just walking in), and what the procedure is if someone comes in to vote and they're in the wrong place, don't show up as registered, etc.  Mostly these procedures boil down to "let them vote but keep their votes in a special place so they're only counted if it turns out the poll workers made a mistake in telling them no."  Several states changed their rules this year, or will be changing the rules after this year, and it's been a very political issue.  (One side says tighter voter ID laws helps stop voter fraud, while the other side says in-person fraud doesn't really happen much anyway and requiring ID discourages people in certain demographics - mostly students, immigrants, and the elderly - from voting.)

Anyway, the whole system can be slowed down for quite a while just because one poll worker is doing something wrong (e.g. asking for ID when they're not supposed to) and a voter catches them at it, or a voter is misinformed about the rules and is trying to bully the poll worker into breaking the rules for him/her.  The poll worker then has to call someone senior to sort it all out, and the end result is much longer lines while everyone waits.

[Sharnita]

Some places in Michigan the ballot was 4 sides long.  Even if you vote the box to mark a straight ticket we have a whole lot of things that are non partisan so you still have to do those position by position, then you had to vote on each of 6 props.

[SamiHami]

From what I've heard, the average wait to vote here (southern South Carolina) was about 2.5 hours. I voted absentee, because I've learned my lesson-I'm not waiting in those lines any more. The last time I voted in person I waited at least 3 hours, it was raining off and on, cold and I had the flu. Never again!

[kherbert05]

I know someone who won a political office that he didn't seek. He was a former member of the city council and I guess his constituents wanted him back.

A similar intention actually got a criminal elected to the Texas Supreme Court. People thought they were voting for a respected attorney, one of the first southern politicians to endorse the Civil Rights act of 1964.


They were actually voting for a man under indictment for forging documents. He ended up resigning then fleeing with his family to Granada.


The first and last names were identical.


And that is how I got on the HS Drill Team (I replaced his daughter after they left) 
 

[Barney girl]

I can't think of it ever taking me more than five minutes from entering the building to leaving for voting. I've certainly never had to queue (UK)

[Syrse]

Reviving this, sorry if that's not ok, but as to the poll workers:

over here (Belgium), it's not volunteers. You get summoned  Kind of like Jury Duty. They mostly look to people already working in administration.
As for their training... what training? 'You ask for their passport and Voting Document (which gets mailed beforehand), you find them on the list, check them off, stamp the document after voting, and you're done!'

Voting here is mandatory, it's on a free day (sunday), and we mostly vote in schools. The fact that it's mandatory and they therefore know exactly how many people to expect in each district, helps a lot.
Those that do have to work can get a 'get out of voting' paper from work, or, and this helps a lot as well, can give someone else the power to vote in their stead.

The only time I can ever remember waiting for half an hour, was when they had just switched to computers instead of paper. Rest of the years we just stroll in, vote, stroll back out.
Results are ready and in the news the very next morning.

[Katana_Geldar]

Never really had to queue to vote.

[Amava]

Results are ready and in the news the very next morning.

And a government, based on those results, is formed as soon as the very next year! LOL

Hi from West-Flanders! 

[Barney girl]

I'm ashamed to say I completely forgot to vote in the local elections we had last week. I'd meant to go on the way home from work and only remembered about 11pm.   

[Thipu1]

We're usually on vacation when Election Day rolls around and vote by absentee ballot.  When we do go to the polls on Election Day, we've never had much of a wait.  Five or ten minutes would be the most. Because we vote at a school, part of that time is spent at the PTA bake sale before or after voting.    

[Hmmmmm]

Syrse, what happens if you don't vote? And do they really check?

[kareng57]

We're usually on vacation when Election Day rolls around and vote by absentee ballot.  When we do go to the polls on Election Day, we've never had much of a wait.  Five or ten minutes would be the most. Because we vote at a school, part of that time is spent at the PTA bake sale before or after voting.   

Around here (Canada) there's almost always a queue unless you go at mid-day.  There's always a rush when polls open, and another starting at 4 pm because many voters go on their way to or from work.  More and more voters seem to be using the advance polls because there's rarely a line.

If there's a line at poll-closing time, usually the rule is that voters in the line inside the building get to vote, but those outside are out of luck.

[Syrse]

Results are ready and in the news the very next morning.

And a government, based on those results, is formed as soon as the very next year! LOL

Hi from West-Flanders! 

Hahaha, hi! *waves*

Syrse, what happens if you don't vote? And do they really check?

They do a few random checks, and if they catch you, it's a whopping fine of... 25 Euros :p
That said, I know of nobody ever to not vote (in my social circle), except maybe once out of protest because it was a re-vote. Again, the free day and easy access, the fact that it's a family outing for lots of kids so they grow to know it and see it as normal, makes for a big turnout.

*edit* Looked it up for you: last voting 91,54% of the voting population actually voted.