Voting

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All this thread is, is a thread about voting in elections in your country.
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Where I am from, Washington state in the United States, the state has now gone to all voting by mail. It was a slow process, but the last county to hold out, Pierce County (where Tacoma is) relented in 2011.

I think it's quite a nice method to vote; I just voted by mail just a few days ago, and I voted early in the last presidential election last year.

What do you think of how voting works where you are?

Registering is kind of a pain in the butt but otherwise it's a pretty easy process. Wisconsin use to have same day voter registration but I've since moved out of the state, I got registered when I got my new state ID. After that just show up to your designated polling station, they'll find your name on the voter registration rolls and check your ID. My polling station last election was using paper ballots so they handed me one, I filled it out and turned it in. That's it. If you have a job in the daytime or busy for whatever reason besides peak polling times then waiting in line would probably suck a lot. If possible, I'd go in the late morning/early afternoon, usually not a lot of traffic at that time.

Voting is very easy in the Netherlands, especially in the densely populated coastal region (the proper ´Holland´). You don´t have to register. The voting cards are sent automatically by the municipality. There are many polling stations, so people usually don´t have to go very far to vote. My default polling station is a 3 minute walk away.

Since most of the electoral are economically illiterate, voting is pointless.

Where I vote is about a mile from my house.People bring food and hang out and visit.There are no lines and paper ballots.And there is always a pot of coffee.It's nice.

I'm in Illinois (southwest corner of the state/St. Louis suburbs), the state allows individual counties to carry out early voting if they wish, which I really enjoy.

If you choose early voting, you can vote up to 2 weeks in advance of the election day, you enter in your votes on an easy to use electronic voting machine, and when you are done, you will see a paper print out that looks like a register receipt from a store showing your votes, and you confirm that it is accurate. The paper records are kept in case of recount or machine malfunction.

If you go to vote on election day itself, you get a paper ballot, fill in an oval next to the name or yes/no on a ballot question, then the ballot is scanned by a optical scan machine, and is put into a vacuum sealed plastic bag for recount if necessary.

On another note, I voted by polling place in 2008, it was the first time I voted as well, and barring a move out of WA, the only time I will vote at a polling place.

My ballot got in the mail today. The beauty about mail-in voting (which is done in my state and Oregon) is that if I am away during election day, I can mail it in early and I'm set!

Voting is compulsory in Australia.

Well, sort of.

You're required to register on the electoral roll if you're at least 18 years of age and eligible to vote. On election day you have to report to a polling place and get your name marked off the roll. Once you've done that, you can do what you like with the voting papers. Generally, though, you fill them out with a pencil provided and submit them when you're done. Alternatively, we also have early voting, which you can do in person or by post.

If you don't attend a polling place on an election day (this includes federal, state and local elections), you have to provide a good reason (e.g., being in hospital) or else you get fined. I got fined last year for not voting in a local council election. I was at work that day and ended up forgetting to go afterwards. Never again.

We have paper ballots and electronic voting machines in Maryland. We also have early voting.

I don't think we do enough to prevent voter fraud without disenfranchising people.

We also don't hold our politicians accountable. A democratic delegate was caught voting in 2 states at the same time, and people still voted for her.