I just want to wish everyone a happy US Election Day, No matter who you want to be your next president. Here in Norway the election is given a lot of air time and I find it very interesting to follow it.
Enjoy your day and use your right to vote as it is a pillar in a democracy
Thanks. I think I can speak for everybody, that we will be so glad when it is over. At least the tv news will move on, to what issue he should tackle first. Just right now, another commercial for a candidate came on. Thank goodness today is finally here. Soon, America and all the world will know what our fate is. Lil' Lori
Thanks Svein. When does your country vote? Do you have long lines, too? They're saying we'll have at least 3-4 hours wait. I haven't been to my polling place, I'll go after work. I'll be in line before 7pm, so they have to let me vote.
They're saying we'll have at least 3-4 hours wait.
I voted at 8:30am, and I was practically the only one there! Walked right in, voted, and was back in my car literally 7 minutes later. I was told that there had been a long line earlier. I guess I hit the sweet spot!
Penny: We vote every 4th year as well, in addition we have local elections also every 4th year, so there is an election of some kind every 2nd year.
Next time is september 2009 when we will vote for the new parliament.
We have the parliamentary system, so it's the result of the majority in the parliament who decides which prime minister candidate who is to form a government.
Mike: Norwegian media tends to give the Obama campaign more air time and that's reflects the opinion here which is probably 90% in favor of Obama
Thanks Svein, it's really interesting to hear about other country's procedures and opinions. In this day and age of computers, it still amazes me that so many polling places use paper ballots. Our electoral college has been an outdated system for years, yet it is still in place along with the paper ballots. I often wonder when the government will get into the 20th century, let alone the 21st
That amazes me too. But we have to keep in mind that a lot of people don't have any contact with a computer or anything like it. A couple of years ago the railroad company implemented ticket machines instead of manned offices on many of their smaller stations and it became a total chaos, much because senior citzens did not understand how to manage them.
Btw, we have an american friend here in my town, and he told me he could give his vote through the embassy using internet. So at least there is some progress.
When considering the electoral college it is important to realize it also gives leverage to smaller states. If the election for President was decided solely on popular vote, guess which states would get all the attention and pork? One could campaign only in the states with large populations (California, NY, Florida, Texas) and win. "Flyover" country would become a non-factor.
I tried to go this morning and our polling place had cars a quarter mile down the road trying to get in. Vanessa called me at 10am and said there was a line of people three abreast wrapping around the building. I just returned (2:30pm) and still had to wait for 15 minutes to get to the check-in desk. The machine showed my ballot as #1156 and they still have the evening rush to contend with. This polling place typically has ~500 voters show up. They had some problem earlier because one of the poll workers said she was going to be on channel 19 news tonight. I think they ran out of ballots (we use paper).
Here in Trussville, AL, the voting lines are split by the first letter of your last name... A-D E-H I-L etc. etc. My last name starts with a B and my wife's last name starts with a K. She voted in less than five minutes. Our line was the only one that stretched outside of the building. An officer monitoring the polls told me about a lady earlier who was too drunk to properly fill out the form. They tried to quietly escort her out, but she started screaming, "Don't vote for Bush!" I love our little dysfunctional piece of the U.S.
Lil' Lori
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