Slightly different systems

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.

@Ayeba I registered just to support you with an update for this fact here. "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."

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.

@Zonie TBF almost no one votes in the district, or state elections.

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.

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.

@DaveCph The biggest difference between most European elections and US elections, is probably that in the US, you have to sign up to vote, whereas in European elections, if you're a citizen of the country and of voting age, you will automatically be signed up to vote, and will get your voting card in the mail.

So even if you only remember to think about voting on election day itself, you can go vote, because there's no preparation needed, you just grab your card, and go cast your vote.

@DaveCph Huh? In the US, elections are handled by the state. It would be illegal for a private contractor to operate an election. All the fuss you see about private contractors is about the companies that make the voting machine hardware, which we use in the US because we like quick results and machines that go 'bing'.

@VictorMortimer Ah, the machine that gods “bing” – I was always particularly fond of that one

*runs through the door*
Nobody expects the Euro Elections!

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.

@Schweden That varies greatly by state. Oregon and Colorado are done by mail, everybody gets a mail-in ballot. Here in Tennessee we get about two weeks of 'early voting' including two Saturdays, with fewer polling locations open than on election day. On election day polls are open from some insanely early hour that I'm not even awake (probably 8 am) until 8 pm. And mail-in ballots are only available here with a 'valid' reason. Some states only have voting on election day, but for most there are other options.

@Schweden @VictorMortimer I'm in Oregon and I love my mail in ballots! It always comes in the mail weeks in advance, I don't need to pay postage to send it back, and if I procrastinate I can drop it off at the library the day of the election. Each house also gets a catalog where every candidate gets to list their platform and endorsements, not just the Democrats and Republicans. Oregon has one of the highest voter participation and one of the lowest voter fraud rates.

@Schweden

Depends on the state. States in the US vary by almost as much as the states in the EU do. For example, Washington State mails you your ballot, gives you plenty of time, sends you a massive voters phamplet where they give each candidate a chance to say their piece, and one of the best public referendum systems you'll ever see. Honestly, Washington State is a democracy-lover's paradise.

Mississippi, on the other hand, hates it when somebody actually votes, and insists that nothing will stand in their was of disenfranchising everyone they possibly can (especially black voters), and make voting like storming Normandy.

... 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 ...

@JoB
King EU doesn't exclusively represent the European Union, but sometimes also Europe in the sense of all or most European countries.

@EricTheRedAndWhite Even if so, which would be the "most" European countries that have enough "surprise" (re)elections to make one forget about the regular schedule? On the national level, Germany had three in the last 50y, GB ten in a century, ... granted, there *is* Italy ...

@JoB
SATW is a satirical webcomic, and like every other satirical media, it exaggerates things for humorous effect.

@JoB Finland has had four national-scale elections within four years - but for different sets of offices.

President January 28, 2018; Parliament 2019; Municipal councils 2021; Health & Welfare regional councils January 23, 2022. That's not even counting the EU Parliament, also in 2019.

The next Parliamentary election will be in 2023, and the Presidency comes up again in 2024. Vote early, vote often!

@Taihennami Well, the regional councils are a new thing so that might be a surprise election if someone wasn't watching the news; also, there might be a second round for the presidential vote and often is. Just not the last time.

The US doesn't have elections. It has popularity contests between corrupt assholes backed by political machines.

@Highlord83

Well, you know, American election is the greatest show on earth and we in europe can only watch it in amazement and holy cow, not believe what we see. We can´t participate nor vote.

In Europe Eurovision is the greatest show on earth and you in America can only watch it in amazement and holy cow, not believe what you can see. You can´t participate nor vote.

When you arrange world largest song contest with millions of voters across the europe on yearly basis, you´ll need a developed and fully funtioning and open voting system and motivated voters. Unfortunately, politics are not based on dance and songs.

@Highlord83 Elections are opportunities to throw the rascals out and put different rascals in. This is true everywhere democracy is practiced.

Well, my country had three presidents in a single year *cries in peruvian*

Once again the American election system is inferior to the superior European system.

@LiamA There are many different European systems, some like the UK has the same first-past-the-post system, that can cause a party to win even with a minority of the electorate backing that party. Not to mention that such a system favours a two-party system.