5 ms·

The systems are completely different and your comment is just plain ignorance. Elections in France are on a Sunday, when almost everyone is off work.(in US it'

The systems are completely different and your comment is just plain ignorance. Elections in France are on a Sunday, when almost everyone is off work.(in US it's always Tuesday?) Photo IDs are low cost there and mandatory. Everyone has a photo ID. Polling stations are not a "million miles away", you will not see regular multi hour lines in France. And finally - you cannot win, unless you get at least 50% + 1 vote. In US and UK - a simple plurality of votes makes you a winner.

Jiejeing 5y ago
FWIW in france you can either use a passport, your national ID card, your social security card, or plenty of other official documents (all with photo, https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F1361 https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F1361). So there is no barrier at all for the voting ID.
guerby 5y ago
There's about one polling station for 1000 voters in France, hours are from 8am to 6 to 8pm depending on location and election. So 36-43 seconds per voter if everyone shows up, which never happens (highest is about 85%): https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstention_%C3%A9lectorale_en_France https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstention_%C3%A9lectorale_en_...
ajmurmann 5y ago
How many businesses are open in France on Sundays? Wikipedia tells me "large super markets" can open for up to six hours. Does that mean that in practice all small businesses and other stores, like huge book stores are closed? I know in Germany voting also happens on Sunday and everything but restaurants and gas stations used to be closed on Sundays.
- guerby 5y ago
  In France gardening shops and restaurants are open on sundays Some small supermarket/stores are open sunday morning. Some small stores (family managed) are open all sunday (I have one 100 meters from my home which is open 8am to 8pm all days).
nraynaud 5y ago
Actually polling stations in France are split, maximum 1000 voters per station. Technically it’s a bit weird because you can have more than one polling station in the same area, so it might be a bit confusing. But the procedure is such that you can’t put a ballot in the wrong box. A big detail in France is that there is only one ballot at a time, in the US, my wife had 74 ballots simultaneously last time I checked. The US has an election every 2 years in November, and all the ballots are attached to this schedule. In France we have ballots at random date, when each term is finishing (and we elect far less people)
rayiner 5y ago
> Elections in France are on a Sunday, when almost everyone is off work.(in US it's always Tuesday?) Early voting, including one or more Sundays, is available in the Republican states that people are complaining about, e.g. Texas and Georgia. > Photo IDs are low cost there and mandatory. Everyone has a photo ID. Georgia accepts one of six forms of photo ID, and if you don't have any of those, you can get a free ID at your county registrar's office: https://sos.ga.gov/page/georgia-voter-identification-requirements https://sos.ga.gov/page/georgia-voter-identification-require... > Polling stations are not a "million miles away", you will not see regular multi hour lines in France. Does this picture of Atlanta, Georgia, look like the polling places are a "million miles away?" https://gismaps.fultoncountyga.gov/portalpub/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=c9290d15d93148eab7412de12ba45629 https://gismaps.fultoncountyga.gov/portalpub/apps/webappview.... In the U.S., polling sites are typically run by the county or municipality. You see multi-hour lines in Democrat-run counties like Fulton (the county encompassing most of Atlanta), for the same reason you see long lines for other government services in these places.
- JAlexoid 5y ago
  > Early voting, including one or more Sundays, is available in the Republican states that people are complaining about, e.g. Texas and Georgia. But that is not when most polling stations are open. Only a small subset are... because everyone is expected to vote on a Tuesday. > free ID at your county registrar's office Yep. People that can't get to their DMV will surely have time to go to county registrar's office. > In the U.S., polling sites are typically run by the county or municipality. And I'm sure that financing does not affect availability of these sites, right? This is HN, not Facebook, I'm sure most here are aware of how systems operate and and have heard of compounding effects.
  - tptacek 5y ago
    In the US, the Democrats generally control urban areas, the Republicans rural. So financing is not so much the issue with polling places. I don't know what "this is HN, not Facebook" is supposed to mean, but I'm pretty sure the guidelines ask you not to write stuff like that.
  - 5y ago

Jiejeing 5y ago

FWIW in france you can either use a passport, your national ID card, your social security card, or plenty of other official documents (all with photo, https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F1361 https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F1361). So there is no barrier at all for the voting ID.

guerby 5y ago

There's about one polling station for 1000 voters in France, hours are from 8am to 6 to 8pm depending on location and election. So 36-43 seconds per voter if everyone shows up, which never happens (highest is about 85%): https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstention_%C3%A9lectorale_en_France https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstention_%C3%A9lectorale_en_...

ajmurmann 5y ago

How many businesses are open in France on Sundays? Wikipedia tells me "large super markets" can open for up to six hours. Does that mean that in practice all small businesses and other stores, like huge book stores are closed? I know in Germany voting also happens on Sunday and everything but restaurants and gas stations used to be closed on Sundays.

guerby 5y ago
In France gardening shops and restaurants are open on sundays Some small supermarket/stores are open sunday morning. Some small stores (family managed) are open all sunday (I have one 100 meters from my home which is open 8am to 8pm all days).

nraynaud 5y ago

Actually polling stations in France are split, maximum 1000 voters per station. Technically it’s a bit weird because you can have more than one polling station in the same area, so it might be a bit confusing. But the procedure is such that you can’t put a ballot in the wrong box. A big detail in France is that there is only one ballot at a time, in the US, my wife had 74 ballots simultaneously last time I checked. The US has an election every 2 years in November, and all the ballots are attached to this schedule. In France we have ballots at random date, when each term is finishing (and we elect far less people)

rayiner 5y ago

> Elections in France are on a Sunday, when almost everyone is off work.(in US it's always Tuesday?) Early voting, including one or more Sundays, is available in the Republican states that people are complaining about, e.g. Texas and Georgia. > Photo IDs are low cost there and mandatory. Everyone has a photo ID. Georgia accepts one of six forms of photo ID, and if you don't have any of those, you can get a free ID at your county registrar's office: https://sos.ga.gov/page/georgia-voter-identification-requirements https://sos.ga.gov/page/georgia-voter-identification-require... > Polling stations are not a "million miles away", you will not see regular multi hour lines in France. Does this picture of Atlanta, Georgia, look like the polling places are a "million miles away?" https://gismaps.fultoncountyga.gov/portalpub/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=c9290d15d93148eab7412de12ba45629 https://gismaps.fultoncountyga.gov/portalpub/apps/webappview.... In the U.S., polling sites are typically run by the county or municipality. You see multi-hour lines in Democrat-run counties like Fulton (the county encompassing most of Atlanta), for the same reason you see long lines for other government services in these places.

JAlexoid 5y ago
> Early voting, including one or more Sundays, is available in the Republican states that people are complaining about, e.g. Texas and Georgia. But that is not when most polling stations are open. Only a small subset are... because everyone is expected to vote on a Tuesday. > free ID at your county registrar's office Yep. People that can't get to their DMV will surely have time to go to county registrar's office. > In the U.S., polling sites are typically run by the county or municipality. And I'm sure that financing does not affect availability of these sites, right? This is HN, not Facebook, I'm sure most here are aware of how systems operate and and have heard of compounding effects.
- tptacek 5y ago
  In the US, the Democrats generally control urban areas, the Republicans rural. So financing is not so much the issue with polling places. I don't know what "this is HN, not Facebook" is supposed to mean, but I'm pretty sure the guidelines ask you not to write stuff like that.
- 5y ago