Scandinavia and the World
Scandinavia and the World
Slightly different systems satwcomic.com

Slightly different systems


Never thought about this until some guys on an American podcast said “It’s crazy. Europeans can just decide to hold an election whenever they want”

America Europe
21st January 2022
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Ayeba

40
2 years ago #9867898        
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Can we just take a moment enjoy Europe's face when calling "Wake up, motherfucker!"

On the discussion on elections; I don't think the most important points are the frequency or the ability to call snap elections. Those have (arguably) both advantages and disadvantages.

The main difference is how, in the US, there is a significant political willingness to prevent a large group of the population from being allowed to vote. Politicians are willing to game the system for their political gain, at the cost of the principles democracy is built upon.

What annoys me is not that it happens. It's the utter shamelessness of their hollow, fake arguments for doing so.


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2 years ago #9868644        
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We seem to be voting all the danged time in America. (Every two years, not every four -- just Presidents every four!) We have bond elections, district elections, state elections, elections for this and that and so on and so forth... until there's only about a month between the endless television ads telling us to FEAR THE OTHER GUY because of the horrors he/she/they will perpetrate on all DECENT AMERICANS...

Yeah, we're nuts.


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2 years ago #9867890        
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As someone who's been voting in US elections for 20 years, our system is stupid. Too much of how elections are run in the US is still based on things that were set up in the 18th Century.

2 years ago #9867899        
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Oh and one other slight difference. In Europe, the elections are NOT handled by private contractors, but by the state.
In Denmark, there has to be only three weeks from the announcement from the prime minister to the actual election. And yet it runs like a Swiss clockwork.


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2 years ago #9868409        
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*runs through the door*
Nobody expects the Euro Elections!

2 years ago #9867931        
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In America elections are held one day during "normal" working hours to keep as many as possible from voting.

In Europe they are held during the evening too and even weekends so people have a chance to come. Not to mention pre-voting and mailing a vote.

But we already knew America is in dire need of help.


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JoB


2 years ago #9867924        
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... wait, what? The only elections *held by the EU* (since we see King EU here) with public voting are those for the European Parliament
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_to_the_European_Parliament
and they happen every five years. (Which also makes the U.S. *presidential* elections the proper ones to compare them to, if any.)

Next level down, we have national elections, e.g., the federal one in Germany every four years
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_Germany#German_elections_since_1949
Germany has states, e.g., NRW has state elections every *five* years again
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landtag_Nordrhein-Westfalen#Dauer_der_Wahlperiode
etc. ad communem.

Yes, we *can* have elections out of turn, in particular when the parliamentary groups of political parties prove unable to hash out a working coalition government between themselves. That's not necessary in U.S. presidential elections because an order of succession is firmly nailed down right in the constitution, and will be applied through the remainder of the election period, come hell or high water over DC ...


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2 years ago #9867896        
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The US doesn't have elections. It has popularity contests between corrupt assholes backed by political machines.


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Staar

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2 years ago #9867857        
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Well, my country had three presidents in a single year *cries in peruvian*

LiamA

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2 years ago #9868638        
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Once again the American election system is inferior to the superior European system.


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