2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: why was the Wyoming caucus so much closer than other caucuses? Democrats only. [View all]KitSileya
(4,035 posts)I am a staunch opponent of caucuses, and a staunch supporter of early voting, absentee voting, lots of polling places, and automatic voter registration.
In Norway, where I live now, everyone is automatically registered to vote at 18. Norwegians get their voter card in the mail a couple of months before the election. On the card is their polling place, but early voting starts on July 1 - election is in September. You need ID to vote - that's relatively new, after pressure from international election observers. Anything with your name, picture and date of birth is acceptable (driver's licence, passport, credit card etc.) If you live in an institution, one of the employees can verify your identity for you, as they do early voting in nursing homes, hospitals etc. In other words, Norway's system is designed to make it as easy as possible to vote. The American system is the opposite, and I consider that quite shameful.