Why don't we vote like they do in Canada....

[Mossbeach]

1) Take a paper ballot (actual sample)


2) Fill it out behind one of these cardboard barriers...


3) Bring it back and stuff it in a box...


4) Go play hockey and be merry.


They don't have any machines, any electronic crap, no butterfly ballots, no mistaken buttons pressed, no hanging chads, just an old fashioned X beside the name. Then they tear up each electoral district into NEIGHBOURHOODS, not counties, so every elementary school and church in most towns are used. And the ballot box you use is determined by your neighbourhood, so counting is a breeze.

[hey560]

1. Because the election can't be stolen... Jeez so obvious ;-)

[Cronus Protagonist]

2. That's pretty much how they do it in Britain too

And I think that's a population of about 65,000,000 so we know it works with large numbers of people too.

[whitewomenforobama]

3. 'Cause Diebold can't make money off cardboard boxes?

I wish we did do it that way though. And I also wish we could all just voluntarily register at 18, and stay registered for life, updating only if we move to a different state. I can't see why we should have to go through this every 4 years. It's infuriating.

[Beregond2]

28. I've never had to re-register except when I've moved.

What are you talking about?

[whitewomenforobama]

32. At least in Texas,

you have to re-register every time you move to a new county, and send in your registration card for correction if you move just within the county. During college, I moved at least every year, and that became kind of a pain. Most people move within a single county or state far more than they move between states, I just said it would be nice to only have to register when we move between states. I just wish there were an easier way, something so that we weren't subjected to all this madness every four years, with so much potential for people to get lost in the system. They can issue a single SSN or Selective Service number to a person to keep for their lifetime, and granted that's federal and doesn't depend on state of residency, but I wish there were something similarly easy for voter registration.

[Beregond2]

33. Oh, I see. I thoght you were saying you had to re-register even when you didn't move.

es, this country makes it all so much harder than it needs to be. I hope reforming the whole sytem will be one of the first priorities of the Democrats soon. Whatever happened to that bill Hillary was behind, that was described as the "gold standard" of election reform?

[scheming daemons]

4. Because it is a lot easier to count 10 million votes in one night instead of 100 million

But you're right... I'd rather they took the time.

[Swede]

7. How many vote at each polling station?

The numbers should not matter.

[Canuckistanian]

14. But you have the population to count them, too

All our voting counts are done by local volunteers and and a very efficient NON-PARTISAN Elections Canada department.

I think you have an even greater and more impressive volunteer operation in the US.

Why couldn't it be done?

[mwooldri]

Hand counting works just fine.

And if there's a race to see who is the first to declare then the people organising the counting pull all the stops out to make sure they're counted accurately and in double-quick time. If you divide up each area into about 30,000 votes, you can get the vote counted and done in 45 minutes.

Mark.

[Liberalboy]

5. Onemain difference is...

we don't vote on Amendments, Ballot Initiatives, retaining judges, approving bond issues, electing dog catcher, etc, etc, etc.

You vote for a representative and then let them do their job.

[Canuckistanian]

23. That's true

We have separate elections for National, Provincial and Municipal offices.

That way, the voting process is streamlined and easy for the voter to understand.

[EastTennesseeDem]

6. Why do we use leaf blowers instead of rakes?

They too piss everybody off, while not requiring the infinitesimally small extra amount of energy.

[votetastic]

8. Because hand-counting ballots is against the law

The "Help America Vote Act" forbids hand-counting ballots.

[paparush]

12. Yep. Just like the "Clear Skies Initiative", "No Child Left Behind", "The Patriot Act"

Gods..I'll be so glad when the current cabal is gone (and hopefully prosecuted).

[BlueIdaho]

9. Dunno - why don't we have universal heath care like Canada? nm.

[BlooInBloo]

10. I like Oregon's the best.

[Canuckistanian]

15. Thom Hartmann says it's alway been done like that in OR

And we never hear of major problems there, do we?

[BlooInBloo]

17. Those crazy granola eating bastids sure can put together a decent voting system.

[Canuckistanian]

11. It's been this way as long as I can remember

Oh, and all the results are usually tabulated by midnight EST, with VERY few recounts and ZERO lawsuits.

I've always been astounded by the complexity of American voting.

[DavidDvorkin]

13. For that matter, why don't we have a Parliamentary system

instead of the cumbersome absurdity we're stuck with?

[Canuckistanian]

19. Being able to question your leader every day in Paliament is a great benefit

Accountability is built into the Parliamentary system.

The leader of the country is also the undisputed leader of the party and can demand voting solidarity.

Far from being dictatory, it allows major bills to be passed smoothly without wasting time lobbying every single member.

And if a leader is unsatisfactory, the party can call for a leadership convention, where the leader can be thrown out on his/her ass, even in the middle of a term.

If you ask me, the US system is far more arbitrary and inflexible.

[DavidDvorkin]

30. Yep

Also, the office of president, as defined in the American system, has too much power and too great an aura. It quickly became the superior branch of government, instead merely an administrative function, as intended. We've seen what can happen when the office is in the hands of a would-be dictator.

[SheilaT]

16. As Liberalboy said

we are voting for all sorts of other things besides the President that day. I'm in NM, I've already voted, and besides President, a Senator, a Representative, I also had state senator and representative to vote for, plus whether or not to retain a list of judges, about 8 ballot initiatives, most of which involved some sort of tax increase, and maybe a few other things. Oh, yeah, a Public Regulatory Commission Commissioner.

I do sort of wonder when other countries elect their other officials.

[Liberalboy]

18. Thanks Sheila

I remember the first political discussion I had with Canadians when I moved up here. I explained the electoral process and they would just shake their heads and look at me.

"Then why do you have elected officials?" they said "You vote for a person to handle all of those decisions, let them do their job."

Makes you think.

[1corona4u]

20. Are you from Canada?

[quantass]

21. ...And the world continues to pass America by -- Bydie-Bye!

[Jennicut]

22. I hate to burst anyone's bubble but I bet there was a lot of election fraud back in the day

The term used back then was "stuffing the ballot box" and that is what they did. Lots of fraud in the early 1900's and 1800's (Tammany Hall anyone?). I think voting got clean for a while after muckrakers turned their focus on voter fraud and voter supression but it started getting dirty again in 2000 and 2004 thanks to Karl Rove and co. I agree with paper ballots. We have optical scanners here in CT with paper ballots being filled out and then scanned. Computerized but with at least a paper trail. I like the ballot box better though.

[Canuckistanian]

26. Elections used to be dirty in Canada in the 1800's

There were NO secret ballots. You had to stand on a stage and SHOUT your choice of candidate in front of your community.

Politicians used to buy votes with whiskey and cash on election days. It was a usually a brawling drunkfest with many fist fights and recriminations.

No wonder it was banned for women and children to be anywhere NEAR a polling place on election day.

[abumbyanyothername]

34. Nice article in the New Yorker a couple of weeks ago

A congressional race from the mid 1800s was challenged on the allegation of vote improprieties. A voter testified that he was beaten over the head while on his way to the poll with his ballot. (His brother was actually shot dead during the same election.)

The Congress rejected the challenge, arguing, among other things, that a man of "ordinary courage" would have proceeded to the polls notwithstanding the attack.

[GreenPartyVoter]

24. I do vote that way. But I don't play hockey afterwards. Would be very nice if

the whole nation also used paper and pencil, for sure.

[crispini]

25. Here is my ballot:

PDF:

http://www.dalcoelections.org/nov42008/Ballots/55.pdf

24 races on that ballot, and it's a short one.

Try counting THAT by hand. Nope, I don't think so.

[Mossbeach]

27. Pretty Easy Solution for voting for multiple offices....

Just have different ballots, all number or color coded.

Another thing I saw...in Canada, at the polling plance, everything is black, white and grey. No party colors are allowed anywhere.

[Berry Cool]

29. Actually, that's how we do it in Cuyahoga County, Ohio

thanks to Jennifer Brunner.

[expatriate]

31. I live in Australia.

Voting is the same here.

First, it is mandatory. You're eligible to vote, you register, and you must turn up at the polls. Don't turn up, pay a fine. They check you off the rolls when you go.

They make it easy. You can vote weeks in advance, or have an absentee ballot sent to you that is then returned via post. In my town of 7,000 people there are four or five polling places, and they are open every day for weeks before Election Day.

Elections are always held on a Saturday, when most people are off work. If you do work on Election Day, there are those weeks ahead of time where you can vote, and there are always the mailable absentee ballots.

Elections workers go to hospitals, nursing homes and shut-ins to give them the opportunity to vote. If you don't vote in Australia, it's not for lack of opportunity.

Paper ballots, you mark them with a pencil, you stuff them in a box. They are manually counted and tabulated and the results are in within a reasonable amount of time.

One person, one vote. No electoral college nonsense dating back to the 1700's. No machines, touchscreens, hanging chads. Simple and effective, it gives a lot of people employment during election season. Considering the unemployment in America, I would think that a manual voting system would work very well indeed, and give people work.

Being a dual national is interesting, because people are always asking me how the American voting system works. When I try to explain that each state does things its own way, and about machines and butterfly ballots and all the other crapola, they just stare. Then when I try to explain how the electoral college works, they give up and walk away, usually saying "no wonder it's such a mess every time they try to elect a President".

America needs one voting system and a simple one at that. So what if it takes a few more hours to get the votes counted?

[southernyankeebelle]

35. You kidding

Because its to easy. The republicans can't find a way to steal the election every 4 yrs.

[question everything]

36. Can leave room for abuse

I can see someone hides a ballot, or something.

And, we have a lot more voters than Canada.

[Cleita]

37. Because, like Canadian universal health care, it makes too much sense. n/t

[nyc 4 Biden]

38. IMO the best way to vote is to use...

Stephen Spoonamore'sidea. It works like this...after you vote, whether it be on a computer or something else, you get a receipt with a serial number on it. After the election there are lists printed in local papers or somewhere accessible to everyone, with all the local serial numbers in the different candidates columns. This way everyone can audit their own vote and it is still a secret ballot. Check out www.VelvetRevolution.us to find the video where he explains it himself.

ETA: I found the link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_JdUZzgu9I&feature=related

[old mark]

39. And give up all this excitement? nt