Some comments connected to early voting.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

And thanks to Wednesday for this post: https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=post&forum=1002&pid=19468263

I remember before any state had advance balloting, and absentee ballots were almost impossible to get.

So on Election Day itself, business travellers either stayed home that week to vote, or flew home on the Tuesday, voted, then flew back to the job Tuesday afternoon. I worked at DCA (Washington National Airport) so I saw that very clearly.

Over the decades (I'm 76, been voting for over half a century) it has generally become easier to register, to locate a voting place, and cast your ballot.

But I wonder what it's like in other countries.

[Bev54]

1. In Canada we have advance voting, often just at the Elections offices in some smaller towns or cities and

at election sites for larger areas. We got some vote by mail ballots during the pandemic but they were not well done, not sure they will have them again this next election. I have found advance voting and same day voting often has the same amount of lineups. I live in the city and have never waited more than 10 minutes and usually under that, depending on what time you go. Employers must provide voters with time off to vote.
Our elections are run by the Elections Board of Canada which is a nonpartisan group that ensures elections are run smoothly and that there is sufficient voting places in every community. So far (knock on wood) there have not been problems, but our conservative party seems to want to go the way of your republican party. We do not have primaries, nor can any party purge voters because no party has the ability to do so.

[Bev54]

2. When I lived in Thailand, almost 20 years ago, they voted usually on a Saturday

and businesses had to close that day. I am not sure how people registered but I do know at that time many Thais did not vote at all, especially because they believed their vote was not private, with the corrupt government of that time. I do know that if a candidate was running unopposed then they still had to get at least 20% of the votes for that area. That was a problem because people didn't bother to vote so (similar tactics by republicans in Florida), the Thatskin government then would run another unknown candidate in the riding, that nobody knew, just so they could win with less than 20%. They were caught out at that.