Last day of early voting in Texas today. I just voted. If you can vote today, do it. Tuesday is going to be crowded. 🇺🇸
@manton Voting in the US always appears chaotic to me. We don't have early voting here, except for postal voting and I've never had to stand in line to cast my vote. It usually takes me no more than fifteen minutes, including the walk to and from the polling station from home.
@Eyebee It appears chaotic because it is! 🙂 Major changes are needed here, especially in voter registrations and where you can vote. I had a short wait in line, but even in just a few minutes I overheard at least 2 people in the wrong county and/or confused about whether they could vote at all.
@manton Here it's illegal NOT to register to vote if you are eligible. Obviously it's also illegal to register to vote if you're NOT entitled to! The local council sends out a form each year to every household that needs to be updated if there are any changes. A few weeks before an election each registered voter is send a polling card which states which poling station they must vote at. Mine is a five minute walk from my house. You don't need I.D to vote although during the last local council elections there were a few constituencies where I.D. procedures were put in place as a trial.
@manton I have voted by mail for years here in Oregon and signed up for a permanent absentee ballot when I lived in Washington state. I think it's a good way to go all the way around, especially in a state where they have ballot initiatives as you can do your homework and vote over several days rather than do it all in one dump in a voting booth. In Oregon registration is automatic when you get or renew a driver's license or get a state ID card. The only catch is that you have to claim a party and if you don't you get assigned "Independent." Which now has enough people in it to actually be a party, which makes it not so independent.
@Eyebee @manton Having to register to vote at all has always seemed like a strange concept to me. Here the government keeps track of all eligible voters and sends out voter cards before an election. Should one lose the card, they print new ones at the polling place after checking ID, both on election day and for early voting. I'm quite sure it works for anyone at any Swedish embassy as well, so if one wants to vote on vacation it works as long as the passport is on the trip. It's amazing how complicated it can be in some places =)