As a German, this has caused me real anxiety. It is too reminiscent of the pre-WWII period. I live in London, and have just been in Switzerland for a while. It doesn't matter who I talk to - Germans, English or Swiss - no one can do anything but to shake their heads in disbelief when it comes to Trump. Even the most conservative people I know. This has everybody worried. And it does impact the whole world.
I'm American who lived in Germany while serving in the us Army. The European's impressed me on their political knowledge that doesn't seem so prevalent in the average American. I so hope and pray that trump is voted out.
I can confirm in Australia, almost every school in the country is a polling place, the election is held on the weekend and employers must allow employees time to vote. And a big line would be a 20 minute wait at a stretch. We are all hoping that America can join us and the rest of the civilized world in conducting elections and basically everything else, really soon. All the best brothers and sisters.
I agree - I'm an Australian Citizen now (British immigrant) and lines in UK get to Maximum 20 mins and in Oz longest I've had to wait has been 15 mins. All these 7 hour lines in US are mind boggling.
Same in Italy, we always have to vote in the same classroom of the same school. It's very quick and very easy, during covid it was slower and it took me 5 minutes to vote
@@fairdinkum977 I agree, 20 minutes in and out. As an Aussie it can be hard to see how our voting system works and then seeing the hardship other face to use their voice for democracy.
Winston Churchill would be someone I would have liked to have met. So fascinating!💯 Was his portayal on 'The Darkest Hour' by Gary Oldman fairly accurate? Greetings from MI🇺🇸💙🗳✊🤝
India has 1billion citizens and 700 million voters. We don't stand in line for more than 2 hrs. Imagine that!! Voting day is a public holiday. Government arrange special trains and buses to ferry voters to reach their hometown for voting.
@IM KHAN - US elections are controlled by the individual states. 'Blue' states, those largely controlled by Democrats, have more polling places and utilize mail voting quite a bit, while 'red', Republican states do everything they can to suppress the vote in their cities (because most urban areas vote Democrat).
@@wickednwyld Elections here are a federal portfolio. Please do me a favor. TH-cam channel- Vox has a 10-min video on Indian elections please share that with your friends via all social media.
@@wickednwyld India has set up A Constitutional Authority called Election commision of India. Parliament, President and Supreme Court can not interfere in the business of elections significantly as it is an autonomous Constitutional institution. That's how Indian Elections have improved.
@SpectroMan Even Supreme Court can NOT adjudicate after poll dates are announced by Election Commissioner till the results are announced. Courts can hear cases and give verdicts but they can't reduce the powers of the ECI.
Voting in Germany: First of all voting is on sundays and everyone who still has to work has the legal right to leave work for a certain time to vote. Also you don’t have to register to vote. Every adult citizen receives a letter with a mail in ballot and a document which allows you to vote in person. You can then choose how you want to vote by just doing it that way. An finally I have never waited more than 30 minutes to vote at the polling station.
Only time I eher waited longer that 10 minutes was when I went when everyone else did (right before 'Kaffe und Kuchen') and the Ballot was as long as my arm because it was a local election and you can cumulate and variegate in those.
thank you for your thought friend. maybe America can pass a law after removing the giant orange pimple off its ass , it would be against the law to say the name Trump ever again🤗
@@DDIFCC That sounds a bit like the ancient roman practice of damnatio memoriae where they would remove the name from official records and even physically chisel it out on memorials.
I’m brought to tears over the support from other countries. Truly. There are so many here in the US who seem not to care or who are so ignorant. It helps to feel validated by the rest of the world, and know that from the outside looking in, we need this change. Bless you all.
That must be a horrible feeling. People do care and they see the madness for what it is. I remember when I went to the US (or rather just LA and NY) and I got so sad seeing so many homeless people. The American people deserve better. I hope we'll all wake up to good news tomorrow.
OK, at the risk of making you cry, love and peace and best wishes to you and all Americans, from Australia. Yes, all around the world we're watching this election, and hoping... We love you, so please, Make America Friendly Again! VOTE BIDEN/HARRIS 2020! :-)
@@papercup2517 This morning I felt like we failed our World Community again, without a November 3 landslide! Throughout the day I felt hope again. We Americans Miss You All!!! Stronger together
It's a Midlands accent, btw - an accent that everyone in the North and the South of the country looks down on 😆 That's why he had to cross the Atlantic to have a career.
That's how most Americans have watching America for the past four years. Some are planning their escape and working on ways to get rid of it, while others think that getting hit by an asteroid is gonna bring em super powers.
I’m looking for cryostasis options. Cause like hell if I’m giving Trump power over my will to live. But goddamn I don’t want to deal with him anymore. Pray for us. Please.
My Canuck nieces and nephews know way more about American politics than they do about Canadian politics... so yeah, the rest of the world is beyond emotionally invested. It's legitimately part of their own personal zeitgeist.
@Colin Deal here in Germany, the politicians have - I think - no more than six weeks for their entire campaign. And I mean, by law. They are not allowed to do anything beyond that. And then I just look at the US and how many ressources they just blow into the wind for their election and what a mud-wrestling competition it always becomes... It really looks insane from an outside perspective. But also, we learn about the US voting system in school, in history, English and politics classes. That's the reason I'm as informed as I am.
Canadian social democrat here, I just voted in a provincial election, and Canadians in general are very politically engaged with our own politics, but, yes, everyone here is waiting with baited breath over the slide towards authoritarianism under Trump (or fans of that, as in oil-rich Alberta) almost as much as are own politics for sure.
Do this right America, and I'll celebrate with a 21 yo single malt (it's the whiskey that need to be of legal drinking-age, right?)... 🥃 Screw up again, and it's a bottle of cheap vodka that could double as paint-remover... just like last time. 🤯
When I’m driving around town and see people standing on a corner with Biden signs, I honk and wave and my eyes swell with tears... they are filling with tears now. I believe we are all full of pride to be American and I think we are all mentally, emotionally, spiritually and even physically exhausted from this all and want it to end. Today is the day... please wear your mask and get out and vote. I’m sorry if you have to wait in a long line. Please take a light chair if you can, maybe something to drink and a snack or two... a book, kindle, movies on your phone. We can do this AMERICA... VOTE HIM OUT!
Great suggestions and that is what my daughter & I did. Everyone was very good about keeping distance & everyone had on masks and we brought water, snacks, entertainment & an extra battery pack!
A dear friend of mine (from Mexico) became a U.S. Citizen last year and this was her first year to vote as an American citizen. I have a picture of her and her husband after voting in the election this morning. They both look so proud, and I am so honored to know them. ❤️❤️❤️
I'm a German and we are rooting so hard for you! We can't take 4 more years of Trump. I have family and friends over there and the angst is real. Btw. I voted in every possible election for the last 19 years and I have never once stood in line for more than 2-5 Minutes. Yes, minutes. Voting lines are not normal. Depending on what was going on in my life I opted for mail-in-voting a couple of times. Sometimes I just mailed in my ballot, sometimes I went to my local townhall voted there or just dropped it in there. I never even had to register. My parents registered my birth and after my 16th birthday I got sent my voter documents. When I moved I just went to the local townhall and changed my address and the documents were sent there. It is that easy. But Germany wants everyone to vote, so there's a difference.
In agreement with you 100% from New Zealand - *NONE* of us can take 4 more minutes let alone 4 more years of drumpf - he is sowing division and hatred - undermining the very foundation of democracy - usa will not *survive* if he is reelected, please *VOTE* - it scares me how *DEMOCRACY* itself is being undermined in this election - people being disenfranchised - esp minorities - legal challenges to the democratic process itself - undermining stability, unity, law & order - like that incident in texas - my partner was a registered Republican in Texas (he passed 3 years ago) - he was very much *anti-drumpf* then, he would be shocked & horrified now - it is sad, scary and very frightening when the stakes are so high - not just for America but for the rest of us throughout the world - (oh and voting here - literally walk in, no queues - longest experienced was when I WORKED elections, be 10 maybe 15 people maximum about midday - back in the day before we encouraged early voting - we just had our elections, had a nice chat while waiting, 2 people ahead, a family behind - we were *only* waiting because all casting "special votes" were unable to get to our normal electorate - or had recently changed addresses like me - I updated my details and voted on the same day) - oh and voting day is ALWAYS on a *saturday* - schools, church halls - voting places *everywhere*
I find it very weird that in the UK, a country famous for the polite queue, there is no way in hell we'd put up with waiting an hour to vote, but they seem resigned to put up with it in the US! 🤔🤷♀️ Do they not like to pay for more polling stations or something? Considering it's the land of 'the customer is always right' service, it doesn't make any sense why they allow it...
John somewhat glosses over the idea of queues in UK elections. Our polling stations are our schools. Every community has atleast one, most have several. Most of them, if not all of the ones used are state owned and therefore under direct control. They have decent security, plenty of space, and the schools are closed for a day. I live in a town of roughly 110,000 people. We have dozens of schools. I can walk into the polling station and in my entire life I have waited no more than five minutes. When I hear of the crazy shit that Americans have to do, including driving for hours then lining up for hours.... maybe not even getting to vote... that just seems insane. I don't understand why America doesn't use schools.
Well, because then people would be able to vote. What kind of democracy lets everybody vote? Crazy talk, that is! (I'm Australian, we do the school thing too. Elections are always on a Saturday and every school and community building is turned into a polling station)
That’s how it has been in the US for the last 40 years of my life. This year and Trump is what is different. I’ve always voted at the school at the corner.
Polls everywhere where I’m from in the u.s., I’ve never waited. I live in a major city too. Maybe it’s the time of day you go or where you decide to go vote.
I can confirm in Aotearoa New Zealand, that every school hall becomes a polling station. We vote on the weekend and you'll get paid time off to go and vote if you work on the day. Also, our polling booths are open a couple of weeks before election day, so there's plenty of time to get your vote in and your voice heard. (We just had our elections 2 weeks ago) There were queues, but I reckon people turned out in big numbers because we too have right-wing nutjobs in the media, opposition parties and walking amongst us .... and the majority folks were just fed up with their bullshit during a global frigging pandemic. I had to wait about 10-15 minutes to #VOTE. Some grumpy old bugger sitting next to me tried to complain about it; so I told him it could be worse .... we could be in the USA with hours of waiting while surrounded by gun-toting white supremacists. 🤷♀️
For all the issues the US has with voting I do want to point out that the states individually decide how voting works for their population and for many of the states it’s a solid process. As a Californian, my voting booth was 2 blocks from my home and it was a 30 second wait. New York City is a unique situation though. Lines aren’t long because they are suppressing the vote, lines are long because it’s one of the most densely populated cities on earth, though it does seem that the city government is a little incompetent on voting properly. That said, it’s incompetence and not malice. That said, Oliver could have voted on any other day this past week or mailed his ballot in without a line. So some of the blame falls on him. I do though understand him wanting to vote on Election Day in person as a first time voter. It’s a sacred ritual especially as a first time voter, I did the same when I could first vote.
Yeah same for the Netherlands. Every school, every elderly home. Some train stations. Last time I voted I was gone for like 8 min. 3 min walk to the voting place , I was maybe 2 min inside, 3 min back home XD. Granted if you go around 6 it might be busy cause everybody who had to go to work is going to vote then. But maybe the waiting is like 15 min or so.
Same here in Canada. There was a voting station on the university campus and I voted in between classes. That was a while ago, though. Not sure how we would have done an election during the pandemic but I feel like it would've been very simple still.
I’ve never been more excited to drop off my ballot in my entire life. Tonight truly feels like the nerve-wracking night before a major surgery. We need to cut this cancer out, America. Don’t screw it up.
Cutting out the main tumor is all well and good, but this election will do nothing about the widespread metastasis known as MAGA, which has been many years in the making.
I'm from 3rd world country, have been vote for 2 times until now. Both time, i only waited for 20 min. I thought my country is bad at the whole process to vote and the ballot was never adequate. I should not complaining. Thank god i'm still be able to vote comfortably.
2 facts: 1) I’m Dutch and yes we are so holding our breath for you guys! You deserve better! 2) being in line to vote?! Lmao! Never ever happens here! Might have to wait 2-3 minutes.. TOPS! 😂
We weren't really given much choice. It's either stay in line or leave, and the postal service was sabotaged so mail in voting was questionable. I waited to get the orange buffoon out.
@@andromedaspark2241 I know this election is too important! So I get it, but it is just shocking to me. Even in my neighbourhood there are about 5 points where you can vote (voting is on one day here).
Thank you, Angel Eyes! I've been voting for many years and have never waited in line. We have plenty if polling places and many of us have election day off. I think things are different this year because SO many are voting and only a few are allowed into the poll at a time because of the virus. Also, Im in NY, we hate trump, he knows it and no one is trying to suppress us!
Whenever I read "Have a plan" to vote, I feel the urge to facepalm, literally. Nowhere in Europe do you have to "make a plan". Here in Germany, I get sent the documents in the mail. I then walk 2 minutes to the place indicated on the document. Maybe, when I live in the Alps, I would have to walk or even drive just a little farther. I bring that document and my passport. I wait for maybe 1 minute for the previous person to finish. I vote, I walk back to my apartment, I'm done. Voter suppression has been normalized so much in the U.S., you don't even realize how fucking far down the drain you guys are.
I admit some parts are really bad however last election as a first time voter didn't find it too difficult. Went to a nearby park office with my paper that told me where to go and it was at most 30 minutes. Afterwards I went to my boyfriend's place to meet up so we could go get some lunch and they allowed him to register at an elementary school to vote then and there and he did vote. This year I hear so many things like poll workers turning away minorities who know they are registered to vote by claiming it expired and etc. Covid tho made it more challenging because I assume that they won't open as many locations as they have in previous years. I completely agree tho "have a plan" makes me think of people who live in heavily populated centers of cities with only few locations open so the lines are hours long. I live in a city but like 10 minutes from the bustling center, where its slightly more residential/mostly minority part of town.
I'm Brazilian and we are obsessed with this election! Here's hoping Biden wins and kicks our crazy Bolsonaro to the curb!! Also, waiting is line is insane! Here in Brazil when you register to vote you get a designated voting area so they distribute people in a way that it doesn't get busy. The longest line I've ever faced was 3 people!
In Sweden there are literally voting areas everywhere and you get a designated place depending on where you live. There's usually no or very short line to vote and we have usually 80%+ participating of the population who are old enough to vote. And yeah, it's depended on age and citizenship - you get to vote. Doesn't matter if you have a criminal record 1 mile long or some other BS reason. You get a voting card by mail - that's it. You're all set. Take your ID and go vote. The U.S system is rigged to be exploited by those in power.
Also Brazilian, and I'm glad you're one of the good ones, Hereandthere. I actually had to wait in line for about 20-30 minutes in one election, but that was because it was an unusually weird election with many positions to vote for, and people are idiots. Normally I just walk right in, push the buttons and I'm done. And we get the results for the almost 100 million votes by evening. Yes, the US electoral system is a mess.
It took them about 5 mins to draw up my papers for the election and the referendum paper as well. The queue was a bit longer, but then I'd gone to a central city polling place on a sunny saturday on, the first day voting places opened (so, 2 weeks before the election), about lunchtime, so it was going to be the peak time - I reckon I queued for about 15 minutes tbh. But I've voted in quite a few elections over the years and every other time I've just walked straight in, no queue. Easy. And no need for ID, paperwork, anything like that, you just vote. It's all so ridiculously simple and low-stress here - the US approach always looks so bizarre, like they almost don't want people to vote at all.
The last Canadian federal election, I stopped by my polling place after work when I expected it to be busiest; instead it took me 6 minutes from leaving my car, walking inside, voting, and then getting back into my car.
Them reminiscing about that time Oliver was a guest while Stephen hosted his show in the bathtub...what was that, March? April? Feels like a LIFETIME ago.
@@heleneschenbacher8512 I do actually have a good handle on grammar and syntax, but since this is the comments section of TH-cam, and not a scholarly article or resume, I prefer to employ Writer's Voice and write the same way I speak in order to sound more personable and less dry. That said, I stand by my use of "them". You seem to have assumed that I was using "reminiscing" as a gerund (when a verb serves as a noun), in which case it would be the subject of the sentence and "their" would've been correct. But I was using it as a verb. The first section of my sentence is categorized as a heading/caption/label, with different requirements than a proper full sentence. The complete version of my comment--if I'd wanted it to be unnecessarily verbose and hard to follow--would've been "The moment of the two of them reminiscing about [xyz]: when was that?", but I wanted to keep it simpler, so the subject ("The moment") was implied, and the object is indeed "[the two of] them". With the magnitude of unprecedented crap that has happened this year, I would recommend channeling your frustration and sense of justice into causes more worthy than correcting people's grammar on TH-cam. Or, alternatively: *Try to learn serenity, and contentment! Google it!* (I took the liberty of googling it for you.) www.huffpost.com/entry/getting-to-serenity-10-daily-habits-for-inner-peace_b_7184830 www.mindful.org/how-do-we-cultivate-contentment/
Atleast they get to vote. In my country the votes are already casted when the voter arrives at the polling station. Sometimes dead people also votes. Our government gets re-elected with 90% of the parliamentary vote. My country is Bangladesh if you were wondering.
This is the first time in my memory, I'm 68 years old, that I can remember people standing in line for hours to vote. I think because a lot of people are just nervous about what's happening in this country and those who did not vote in the past finally woke up and decided to vote. With trump trying to suppress voting measures by taking out ballot boxes, rigging the USPS and everything else that's happening, people are afraid that their vote will not arrive on time or be counted. So people are coming to vote early. God help us if trump gets in again.
I’m spanish and I live in Germany. I could vote per mail very easily and without any cost. My husband is german and when he goes to vote I wait with my son outside the school for 5-10 min tops. Democracy must be a human right no matter where. I admire you immensely for waiting 11 hours to employ your little given rights. You deserve better. I really wish you get it and at least get closer to european standards. And for Europe, let’s take this as a lesson and stick together. Goddammit.
@@danielsabanoglu7036 I do not know about your circumstances. I talk from my experience which is: I only have to inscribe myself in the Spanish Consulate and they just send me everything automatically to my home address with a mark envelope to send back and that is all. They even send me in advance the political panfletos of the parties. Also from my experience I can be sure that the European Post service works just fine. I do hope you can vote next time if it was difficult for you. Maybe contact your consulate. You just have to register as a Spanish citizen in that country and sign the Census.
@Bigfoot this comment makes no sense and it shouldn’t matter how many people live in US. Doesn’t mean our democracy should not work properly. For proof why don’t you look at the comments from people who live in India where there are 1 billion citizens. Our states are roughly the size of European countries - if they don’t have voting lines and issues with voting, why do our states (since voting rules and laws differ state to state here) have so many issues?
I'm practically getting ulcers watching from Canada, it's too close to home for me to feel ambivalent about this election! I've never waited longer than 10 minutes to vote, ever in my life for any level of government. We also do not have to register to vote! Just take your ID to the polling place, and done. If by chance, they can't figure out who you are, you will not be turned away, they go up the chain to figure out how to confirm you so you can vote.
I worked at one of the federal elections in the early 2000's in a local voting location in small town Ontario. The instructions were more about what we're NOT allowed to ask when they get to the table. Not even for ID. Just state your name and address; we checked it off. Of course they paired me with a nightmare second officer, ie. they put me in charge, who proceeded to ask half the people those exact questions, asked for ID and wouldn't stop doing it the entire night. It's really very very basic work; no tricks to it if you can take little bits of paper (ballots) into individual piles and count them and write down those numbers on the report. Apparently many people can't so every team is there until they do.
I usually go before classes since I'm a morning person. Usually it's dead and I get to vote right away. I've gone when it's busy in the afternoon, I think I waited 10 minutes?
here is a very sad fact. Many states insist on ID, which on the surface, seems reasonable. But we have so very many people who must then choose between an ID or feeding their kids. An ID costs 20-30 dollars, and I can tell you that can be a big chunk of change for many. I once was so poor as a single mom of two, that the $25 bucks for an ID would have meant literally 2 1/2 MONTHS of my food budget at the time (trust me, doable, but your kids don't get great nutrition, and I often went hungry). And it wasn't that I was lazy and wasn't working. I worked a ton of hours, 3 jobs. But my babysitter got 3/4's of my pay, and then there was rent, electric, gas, car, etc. I drove an old piece of junk gas guzzler (thank you, person, who stole it on thanksgiving day)...so yeah. the poor? think on that a bit, then add the high doctor bills just to pay for shots for your kids ($60 bucks to walk into the doctors' office, add the shots). An ID? are you f'n kidding me? I had one, yes, as I had to drive. but what about those that don't have a car, a license, but kids? This world is def not for the poor. Sheer grit and a TON of luck got me into college and a new life. I can now help others. So no. State ID? how about that SS card, Birth cert, or even a dang piece of mail with name and addy along with a receipt for payment of electric bill? Shouldn't that be enough? And after this election of suppress the vote like EVERYWHERE? Doesn't everyone think something is very wrong with this picture???
These overly onerous ID laws in America are holdovers from Southern Reconstruction and Jim Crowe days, when the effort was focused on keeping Blacks from voting, or anyone else The Powers that Be deemed unworthy of the privilege of voting, such as poor white people, Hispanics , etc. there is no excuse for them these days.
The last time I voted here in India, I went to the polling station nearby at 10 am, literally just walked in, voted and came out. There was no line and the whole thing took 2 minutes. And this is in an impoverished country that's literally run by a fascist administration. You gotta catch up America
Do you know the meaning of the word fascist. By your own admission said the voting practice was free fair and easy for you. Just for your hatred for a politician you are calling a democratically elected individual a fascist. Lol of there is any hate it you and your thinking
I've been staying up late just to calm & reassure some fellow Americans that are scared of what lies ahead; I just want y'all to know, as long as good people still breathe, it's going to be ok. Once you've voted, feel free to turn off notifications & do something that makes you happy.
Excellent way to put it! My teenage son just asked me if there’s going to be a civil war. I reminded him that majority of Americans have sense and that the media gives too much time to the ignorant ones, making it appear that there are more of them than there are. The fools are outnumbered. Trump won in 2016 due to our electoral college. The majority of Americans are good, sensible people.
🙌🏻🙌🏻 have faith in our system and the people you don’t see. They are faithful patriots. Even if Trump wins, we’ll get through it together and we’ll come out smarter and stronger. This experiment is resilient if nothing else!
In Sweden there are literally voting areas everywhere and you get a designated place depending on where you live. There's usually no or very short line to vote and we have usually 80%+ participating of the population who are old enough to vote. And yeah, it's depended on age and citizenship - you get to vote. Doesn't matter if you have a criminal record 1 mile long or some other BS reason. You get a voting card by mail - that's it. You're all set. Take your ID and go vote. The U.S system is rigged to be exploited by those in power.
The voting rights denied to felons in the US is crazy,. Either voting is your right as a citizen or it isn't a right at all. In Finland the prisoners get to vote where they are, it's called something like "voting inside an institution" in the law. Research says it's the first time many of them vote, one reason being they haven't bothered to get an ID before, even though in Finland it's your right to have an ID, the social security system will therefore pay for one, if you are poor, unemployed etc. (50E/ 59 USD).
We owe a deep debt of gratitude to the African-American voters that put us over the top for Biden/Harris to win the election. 87% of the black vote went to Biden. He couldn't have won without them. Thank you, thank you for your hard work, your suffering and your votes!
Even in my tiny island in Azores, stuck in the middle of the Atlantic, each community center in each town is a voting place. In the 50's the United States were the saving grace of my community, offering exile to thousands, during a volcanic crisis. At the time we were under a Fascist Dictatorship (until 1974), and people were very poor (it was a celebration when a bag with old shoes/ clothing arrived from America, sent by family). Now, I am pretty sure that we are better off than our family members in America: healthcare, cheap education, safety (there is practically no gun violence), even racism seems to be much less prevalent in our small/ very conservative community. I wish you all the best. It is time to the politicians in the US to step up and start serving their people.
My ex-husband was born in the Azores, I remember his mom telling me about live under the dictatorship and how they didn't have electricity and that she was embarrassed to wear shoes because she was the only one of her friends that could afford shoes, she didn't want to be different. Then she said all of the sudden, when the government changed everybody was getting money and electricity and they could buy TVs ECT. Still she wanted to come to the US and when she did as an adult she was so excited by the abundance of ice cream that she would eat 2 quarts a day. She didn't know she didn't know she would gain so much weight because she never had the opportunity to eat this much before.
Can verify John’s statement: here in Australia we have, for four years too long, been closely following the Trump ‘presidency’ with varying degrees of horror, bewilderment, and (tbh) regular facetious amusement. To my sane, rational and non-hateful American friends - we love you! So please don’t screw this up. The world IS watching! Peace and love from ‘Straya 🇦🇺✌️❤️☺️
Much love in return! You Aussie's are the best! 💜 Thank you for all your support -- we need every bit we can to make it through the next few days because they're going to be rough.
John is right, I've never 'queued' for any period of time to vote in the UK. In Vote out In 60 seconds If British people had to wait for even more than a few minutes, I don't think anyone would vote.
Similar in India . When I voted for the first time last year during the general elections, I stood in line for hardly 20 mins and even that was because of some technical glitch with the voting machine . And the polling place was a school on the next street . It's easier to get a gun @ Walmart in the US than voting .
"...scanning it into the machine and the machine saying 'your vote has been counted' - I nearly burst into tears." I slid mine into the ballot box and was only hoping as I still am that my dirty, red state won't just sit on the box like what happened here in the midterms. But I'm glad that it's done, and that I didn't contract a potentially deadly illness from doing so.
I am lucky to live in Arizona where, as long as you like, you can vote by mail. I received a text that my ballot was on its way to me. I took the ballot with my coffee, sat down and work on it and looked up more information before I made my selection. Sealed and signed it. Put it in my mailbox. A couple days later, I received a series of texts that the County received my ballot, it verified my signature against one on file, and it was counted. A very pleasant experience. Big thanks to you all spent your time and energy to participate in this civil endeavor. 🖖
Thanks for voting! Having voters wait in line for hours is insane. Not having a holiday for voting is a clear hit against people who have the sort of minimum wages job where you can't take half a day off. I hope so much that if nothing else, Biden manages to at least, by EU standards, normalize the voting process.
The global support im seeing in these comments is humbling. I'm so ashamed of many of our citizens and our leader here and I don't want the world to think those few that speak loudest have the most to say or even represent how most of us feel. It makes me happy to know that the hope for change is being thought of from beyond our borders as well as within.
Here's from Germany: Planning to get up at 3 am local time to watch CNN and zoom with two friends. I just pray to God all of tomorrow's papers headline: He's fired!
And everyone gets a ballot sent home to bring to the polling stations! No one needs to register to vote, when you are registered as a Dutch citizen, you automatically get one
Voting in Germany is just as quick. And there are so many polling stations that you usually don't have to "travel" far. So far, voting has never taken me more than 20 minutes (that is including the walk to the polling station, the voting itself and going home) unless I stayed at the polling station (i.e. the elementary school) for some cake afterwards :)
Voting in Canada: We get a card in the mail automatically when it's voting season that says "the Government based on census data has determined there are ___ (# ) people of voting age at this residence, please see your nearest polling location"...when they say nearest, they mean literally a block from your house because ANYWHERE can be a polling station - a school, a church, a community centre, an apartment building etc. I've voted at an apartment building, a school and a church. One time I went to vote in the middle of work because all of these places are usually 5-10 min walk from wherever you are. And of course everytime the whole process took an average of 10 minutes or so. They are usually not very busy because there are so many options. Bottom line is, there is no voter registration, no electoral college, no standing around for hours, no hassle, no fuss. It is your right to vote so these things are set up for you. All you have to do is research your parties. Everything that is happening in the US is NOT NORMAL. We just want you to know. Good luck America.
In my state, Missouri, after registering 2 months in advance, you had to go through a confusing process to figure out which kind of ballot you qualified for based on one of 10 "reasons," then mail in a request, have it mailed back, then fill it out, get a *witness* AND get it notarized by a certified Notary Public (only on one of the specific inner envelopes) and then mail it back. Our state spent thousands of dollars on new drop boxes, but then never put them out and went to court to say that if your ballot got lost in the mail, too bad, you can't have a vote.
I live in Washington State, where we have an all mail-in voting system. I filled out my ballot on my bed, in my pajamas, sipping a beer, filling in the bubbles at my leisure while researching issues I was curious about on my phone. A couple days later I dropped it into the ballot drop box at the city hall, which is conveniently nearby. No lines. I'm very very lucky, especially for this country.
As an Oregonian, I LOVE our system.. It's so nice to receive the voting guide a few weeks before your ballot, so you can take your time to research the candidates and measures. When it's time to fill in the ballot, it's so easy and chill that I'm still shocked that rest of the country does not have the opportunity for a stress-free voting experience. Hopefully, after this election, states will adopt the vote by mail strategy. Also, good luck today, fellow Americans
Same here. Live in Arizona and it’s mail in voting as well as in person. Filled out my ballot at leisure and Dropped my ballot off early at our civic center, no lines, no waiting.
First time for "mail-in" type ballot because of covid. I LOVED IT!❤ Will be voting this way from now on. Came in mail, sat relaxed while filling out. Course, this time there was no other options, but normally, there are still ones I might have second thoughts on. Anyway, took it to township and dropped it in box Oct 2. SO EASY!!🇺🇸❤💯 Love to all!! 🌊🌊💙💙✊🤝✌💪❤💯
I got something in common with John Oliver! This is my first election I get to vote in, not only because I wasn’t old enough for the last presidential election but because I became a US citizen last year!
@@royrowland5763 Montreal is Canada's current COVID hub and also overpriced. Ottawa's Covid situation is not ideal but the house market is much more reasonable. Good chunk of citizens there are public servants for Federal Govt
I can confirm in Australia, almost every school in the country is a polling place, the election is held on the weekend and employers must allow employees time to vote. And a big line would be a 20 minute wait at a stretch. We are all hoping that America can join us and the rest of the civilized world in conducting elections and basically everything else, really soon. All the best brothers and sisters.
I'm Irish 🇮🇪 and haven't had a decent night's sleep in a while, thanks to this election. So many global efforts to tackle climate change, the pandemic, to champion peace, all hanging in the balance. Also, in order to watch the results, we have to endure the marathon of 12 midnight to 5/6am, then go to work!!! Good luck tonight, America. (One last thing: what's with the queuing for hours? I've never missed a vote in my life, and never once had to queue. I'd say "Sort it out" but you have bigger fish to fry.)
US elections are controlled by the individual states. Most of the hours long cueues are in Democrat voting areas of Republican controlled states. It's completely intentional.
Don’t be scared ! Let’s fight back the wave ! To all undecided voters. Show them those 4 links together. This might help the undecided voters to decide to vote : th-cam.com/video/tLcTgJULW0M/w-d-xo.html (When it is crazy, it get crazier about covid) th-cam.com/video/Eym7u6E8rjQ/w-d-xo.html (The lies about his commitment for the black) th-cam.com/video/fQAVoJzkDqo/w-d-xo.html (The occult truth about Trump) th-cam.com/video/tLcTgJULW0M/w-d-xo.html (We fight or we loose it all) #SaveLive #WalkAway
Early voting took place in a limited # of locations with in each state. States foot the bill for this and could not have foreseen the turn out. Those patient people are heroes. Covid certainly changed the drama this time.
I was working an early voting station last week, & we had international observers come by. That was a bit of an eye-opener. Edit: Also we seem so enamored of tradition that we're unwilling to change or innovate how we do things. Fundamentalism seems to run very deep.
Them reminiscing about that time Oliver was a guest while Stephen hosted his show in the bathtub...what was that, March? April? Feels like a LIFETIME ago.
We just had an election in NZ - there was a voting station in the local shopping mall. It was open for voting for 2 weeks before election night, so people could just stop and vote as they were passing by. No queues.
A couple of minutes is the longest I’ve had to wait in line to vote in Denmark. We consider it a low turnout if only 85% of voters turn out. All citizens are automatically eligible when they turn 18.
Another reason to be envious of my Danish friends! Our system has been made purposefully more difficult over the years. Then you add that every state has a different set of election laws and it's a big mess. There's a wonderful book on the history of U.S. voter suppression called One Person, No Vote by Carol Anderson. It's both fascinating and horrifying.
Here in Canada, almost every school in the country is a polling station, and it has never taken me more than 10 minutes waiting to walking out of the poll. Also, what is this "register to vote" BS? Here in Canada, every citizen is automatically "registered to vote".
I was staying at a home in Wexford town a few months before the 2016 election. I was telling my Irish hosts then about how embarrassing it was to be an American with Donald Trump on the world stage, and that was BEFORE he won. Thanks for the support, it really is appreciated.
In the UK we vote with a pencil and paper (so can’t be hacked). 3 minutes was the longest I had to queue to vote, and what was the EU referendum where there was a 72% turnout.
“As Lincoln once said to a nation far more divided than ours...”We are not enemies, but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.’”
Not sure I agree with “a nation far more divided than ours.” The last four years have clearly illuminates by the massive chasm between progressives and conservatives. And then there are the Trump supporters. I think we haven’t descended into OUTRIGHT civil war, but we are definitely at war.
@@sarahzentexas it’s a false chasm perpetuated by extremists on social media. The majority of people in the middle have too many real Life responsibilities to fan the flames of discord. Regardless of how to fix them, there are issues we can agree on: pre-existing medical conditions need to be protected, college has gotten way too expensive, tap water should be safe to drink, elected officials should represent their constituents, blanket name calling is wrong, and compromise is sometimes necessary to get things done.
Up in Canada it takes me a total of 6 to 7 minutes , and that includes parking, walking to the local school and voting . We have a democracy here, encouraging all citizens to vote .
Voting in Portugal (10min tops): - One polling place for every 5k citizens. - You can call, text or check website for your polling place based on your id number ahead or in the day, most likely the last one. - Every polling place have 5-10 desks, every desk have 3 volunteers to check you id number with register logs. - Get a ballot, vote in boot, place it in safe vault and get out. PS: Since its based on your id number the polling place are ageist in nature, its a emotional right of passage when you change places, like sitting at the grown up table.
He's right about the queues for voting. I'm in a small town in NZ and when I voted early there was a queue for 10-15mins because they weren't expecting so many people that day. People walked out because they didn't want to wait 10mins. Unacceptable.
I live in far away South Africa and your elections give me palpitations every time i think of you guys voting Caligura back into office. You are truly leaders of the world.
You get palpitations?! I've been literally, physically sick to my stomach every day for 4 years....combined with migraines. Also, I want to apologize for....well....the USA, for the last few years. We have pretty much been a global embarrassment. We aren't all stupid, I promise.
It's almost a certainty that there won't be a decision made tonight. It takes time for the votes to be counted, always, but especially this time it will.
Hi America, this is the rest of the world commenting; tomorrow you'll decide what kind of planet we'll all be sharing, please let us relax (at least for 4 years) and vote Biden in. Thanks.
as a Baltimorean I'm telling you that sound that makes no sense is "oh" pronounced almost like "ew", combined with sticking an R randomly in the middle of the word wash, and served with a side of removing syllables ("Balmur"). #MDrepresent!!!
Can confirm as a Canadian I have been watching this show everyday since the pandemic started. Helps me learn about American politics in a way that isn't instantly soul-crushing
I'm Dutch. Greetings from Amsterdam in the Netherlands! November 3rd is here! I'm afraid and hopefull at the same time... Will the world be free of the orange Thing and his palls? Keeping my fingers crossed!
John Oliver's die hard laughing makes me laugh, honestly been a long time since I had tears from laughing, the sewage plant stuff was hilarious, imagine oliver colbert and stewart are today's Abbott and Costellos, Martin and Lewis. Always fun watching any of the three together
In Australia we have compulsory voting (so way higher per capita voting), and I have never ever had to wait in a line for any amount of time! How you’ve normalised voting lines is a terrible thing for democracy.
Nothing normal about it. California has had permanent mail voting for years, as have several other states. Republican controlled states fight it, because they know that they will lose if everyone can participate.
I have never been so anxious about a non-Australian election.... This is the big one! We need America to remain a strong democracy with strong institutions. America is Australia's brother, and we've always been there for each other. With you every step of the way today.
@@tpal3243 - Many places allow early, in person voting, to ease the lines on 'voting day'. While John could have voted by mail (either by mailing his ballot or dropping it off) and avoided the line, but I suspect that he wanted the experience of voting in person for his first go at US elections.
watching from Germany where you can wake up very hungover at 1 pm on election day walk to a polling station, forget to bring your ID and still vote within 10 minutes.
He probably went at a busy time, like early in the morning, some people try to vote before work or to a busy polling location. I didn’t wait at all when I voted, My friend went super early on the first day and she waited an hour.
Well the vote is trying to be tampered with. Some of it is covid 19, fewer volunteers to make certain the vote is accurate. However, the republicans have taken out many polling places, they have removed sorting machines at post offices, to slow down delivery of mailed ballots and president pumpkin head is encouraging republicans to wait u til election day and go vote in person. They have attributed 700 deaths to attendance at trump rallies. Kate wrote this
They vote for more than one office in each election. In Washington State, in addition to president, they will vote for representatives, 1/3 of senators, (not sure if either of these are up for election this year), governor, lieutenant governor, several cabinet posts, superintendents, state representatives (2), state senators, and Supreme Court and appeals judges. They must spend longer voting than people in other countries stand in line. Every two years there are down ballot elections which really matter. States determine election laws. Some of the offices are only for two years so how much listening are they doing between campaigning? They are screwed because their system is screwed.
Last federal election in Canada, I think we were in line for 15 minutes -- but half the neighbourhood apparently had the same bright idea of coming into the advanced poll on a nice Sunday afternoon. :)
![[ ออกกอง ] วัยหนุ่ม 2544 โลกหลังลูกกรง..ทัวร์กองถ่ายหนังใน "คุกของจริง" | JUSTดูIT.](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vB--aOkZCpw/mqdefault.jpg)
As a German, this has caused me real anxiety. It is too reminiscent of the pre-WWII period. I live in London, and have just been in Switzerland for a while. It doesn't matter who I talk to - Germans, English or Swiss - no one can do anything but to shake their heads in disbelief when it comes to Trump. Even the most conservative people I know. This has everybody worried. And it does impact the whole world.
I'm American and I live in a red State and that's all I can do, shake my head in disbelief
Many of us here see it, too. We can’t seem to educate the Rrump supporters!
You can vote! :-)
I hope you did! :-)
Please, and blue ..... from Denmark :-)
I'm American who lived in Germany while serving in the us Army. The European's impressed me on their political knowledge that doesn't seem so prevalent in the average American. I so hope and pray that trump is voted out.
@@velder22 I’m with you. I’m in Southern Utah. 😳🙄
I can confirm in Australia, almost every school in the country is a polling place, the election is held on the weekend and employers must allow employees time to vote.
And a big line would be a 20 minute wait at a stretch.
We are all hoping that America can join us and the rest of the civilized world in conducting elections and basically everything else, really soon. All the best brothers and sisters.
I agree - I'm an Australian Citizen now (British immigrant) and lines in UK get to Maximum 20 mins and in Oz longest I've had to wait has been 15 mins. All these 7 hour lines in US are mind boggling.
@@tobinjc1 20 minutes, cause its compulsory voting in Australia, and everyone has to vote!
Compulsory voting gives a better outcome too!
as an aussie i fully agree
Same in Italy, we always have to vote in the same classroom of the same school. It's very quick and very easy, during covid it was slower and it took me 5 minutes to vote
@@fairdinkum977 I agree, 20 minutes in and out. As an Aussie it can be hard to see how our voting system works and then seeing the hardship other face to use their voice for democracy.
"Winston Churchill once famously observed that Americans will always do the right thing, only after they have tried everything else."
He was also kind of a racist drunk, but so were many American leaders.
I just saw that quote the other day 😂
53% of us voted against him in 2016.
@@ripmomcovid4678 I hope you folks succeed. And it's not politics as usual from the other wall street party.
Winston Churchill would be someone I would have liked to have met. So fascinating!💯 Was his portayal on 'The Darkest Hour' by Gary Oldman fairly accurate?
Greetings from MI🇺🇸💙🗳✊🤝
John Oliver shouldn't change his accent. That's what gives him charm.
It's moot. He's lousy at accents. 😆
It was a joke
Baltimore is Charm City, kinda funny what you did there😄
He won’t, our accents stay with us forever. I’ve been in the USA for 30 years and still have an accent that nobody can place in the map. :)
@@DulceN It's not Spain, is it?
India has 1billion citizens and 700 million voters. We don't stand in line for more than 2 hrs. Imagine that!!
Voting day is a public holiday. Government arrange special trains and buses to ferry voters to reach their hometown for voting.
@IM KHAN - US elections are controlled by the individual states.
'Blue' states, those largely controlled by Democrats, have more polling places and utilize mail voting quite a bit, while 'red', Republican states do everything they can to suppress the vote in their cities (because most urban areas vote Democrat).
@@wickednwyld Elections here are a federal portfolio. Please do me a favor. TH-cam channel- Vox has a 10-min video on Indian elections please share that with your friends via all social media.
@@balajialagurajan243 - Will do, but if elections here were under federal control, Trump would be making the rules right now, which is terrifying.
@@wickednwyld India has set up A Constitutional Authority called Election commision of India. Parliament, President and Supreme Court can not interfere in the business of elections significantly as it is an autonomous Constitutional institution. That's how Indian Elections have improved.
@SpectroMan Even Supreme Court can NOT adjudicate after poll dates are announced by Election Commissioner till the results are announced. Courts can hear cases and give verdicts but they can't reduce the powers of the ECI.
Voting in Germany:
First of all voting is on sundays and everyone who still has to work has the legal right to leave work for a certain time to vote.
Also you don’t have to register to vote. Every adult citizen receives a letter with a mail in ballot and a document which allows you to vote in person. You can then choose how you want to vote by just doing it that way.
An finally I have never waited more than 30 minutes to vote at the polling station.
Only time I eher waited longer that 10 minutes was when I went when everyone else did (right before 'Kaffe und Kuchen') and the Ballot was as long as my arm because it was a local election and you can cumulate and variegate in those.
Also, no voting computers as they were deemed uncostitutional because they facilitate vote manipulation.
thank you for your thought friend. maybe America can pass a law after removing the giant orange
pimple off its ass , it would be against the law to say the name Trump ever again🤗
@@DDIFCC That sounds a bit like the ancient roman practice of damnatio memoriae where they would remove the name from official records and even physically chisel it out on memorials.
Quiddel well, I think it’s the least we can do for all the fine amazing things he has done for the world😉
I’m brought to tears over the support from other countries. Truly. There are so many here in the US who seem not to care or who are so ignorant. It helps to feel validated by the rest of the world, and know that from the outside looking in, we need this change. Bless you all.
That must be a horrible feeling. People do care and they see the madness for what it is. I remember when I went to the US (or rather just LA and NY) and I got so sad seeing so many homeless people. The American people deserve better. I hope we'll all wake up to good news tomorrow.
OK, at the risk of making you cry, love and peace and best wishes to you and all Americans, from Australia. Yes, all around the world we're watching this election, and hoping...
We love you, so please, Make America Friendly Again! VOTE BIDEN/HARRIS 2020! :-)
@@papercup2517
This morning I felt like we failed our World Community again, without a November 3 landslide!
Throughout the day I felt hope again.
We Americans Miss You All!!! Stronger together
Haven’t stopped praying for the good Americans....all our blessings from Africa..we missed you
Watching from Portugal, on the edge of my seat! Good luck you guys, seems to be going well 👍🏻
"NO I haven't talked to Cher before, there's a WHOLE SYSTEM in place to stop that!"
lol That was my favorite.
Ahahah she also called him a "wee ratface" on twitter once
@First Name Far left? lol
John, don't you dare to EVER lose that accent.
It's a Midlands accent, btw - an accent that everyone in the North and the South of the country looks down on 😆 That's why he had to cross the Atlantic to have a career.
@@psammiad the manila envelope taped to a beige wall killed me
BUT, it’s fun when he does other ones!
Or those dimples😉
@@psammiad See all those thumbs up? We're crass Americans, we love him and his accent and we don't care.
All the best from Australia. Vote, vote vote, and you've got this one in the bag, America!
Jesus Christ, I wish. I have so little faith in our democracy. I have a terrible feeling about this election.
@@johnsummers9660 Well soon you will know what kind of future to expect. I hope is is a good one.
I have family in USA I’m petrified for them!
Thank you, David!!!
I knew a David Warren in high school, it can't be you though, he was never this optimistic.
The world is watching the USA like there is an asteroid about to hit you guys.
Good luck America!
Love from the Philippines
That's how most Americans have watching America for the past four years. Some are planning their escape and working on ways to get rid of it, while others think that getting hit by an asteroid is gonna bring em super powers.
I’m looking for cryostasis options. Cause like hell if I’m giving Trump power over my will to live. But goddamn I don’t want to deal with him anymore.
Pray for us. Please.
@@MsPuffykinz We really are praying for you. Kia kaha people of America. Arohanui from NZ.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Hilarious but true.
My Canuck nieces and nephews know way more about American politics than they do about Canadian politics... so yeah, the rest of the world is beyond emotionally invested. It's legitimately part of their own personal zeitgeist.
That makes me feel... really sad actually. That we are causing that much stress and upset for everyone else
Speaking as an Aussie, I only got into politics because of this election. I don’t even know anything about Australian politics lmao
I get it. I am Canadian and should not know more about the US candidates than my own 🤣
@Colin Deal here in Germany, the politicians have - I think - no more than six weeks for their entire campaign. And I mean, by law. They are not allowed to do anything beyond that.
And then I just look at the US and how many ressources they just blow into the wind for their election and what a mud-wrestling competition it always becomes... It really looks insane from an outside perspective.
But also, we learn about the US voting system in school, in history, English and politics classes. That's the reason I'm as informed as I am.
Canadian social democrat here, I just voted in a provincial election, and Canadians in general are very politically engaged with our own politics, but, yes, everyone here is waiting with baited breath over the slide towards authoritarianism under Trump (or fans of that, as in oil-rich Alberta) almost as much as are own politics for sure.
Jameson’s Whiskey at the ready.
Greetings from Ireland 🇮🇪🇺🇸
Nice I decided on something stronger and whipped up some white lightning... I needed something stronger
I am Indonesian and I love Jameson’s whizzzz. I am nervous for the election. Good luck America. 🇮🇩🌎🌍🗺
Do this right America, and I'll celebrate with a 21 yo single malt (it's the whiskey that need to be of legal drinking-age, right?)... 🥃
Screw up again, and it's a bottle of cheap vodka that could double as paint-remover... just like last time. 🤯
Bottle of Champagne will be popped... Wishing peaceful transfer from New Zealand ❤️🌊❤️🌊❤️🌊❤️🌊
🥃
When I’m driving around town and see people standing on a corner with Biden signs, I honk and wave and my eyes swell with tears... they are filling with tears now.
I believe we are all full of pride to be American and I think we are all mentally, emotionally, spiritually and even physically exhausted from this all and want it to end.
Today is the day... please wear your mask and get out and vote.
I’m sorry if you have to wait in a long line. Please take a light chair if you can, maybe something to drink and a snack or two... a book, kindle, movies on your phone.
We can do this AMERICA... VOTE HIM OUT!
From your mouth to God's ears
Great suggestions and that is what my daughter & I did. Everyone was very good about keeping distance & everyone had on masks and we brought water, snacks, entertainment & an extra battery pack!
i didn't know i needed Cher right now 💃🏽🇺🇸
please please please vote him out I cannot take this nightmare anymore
Haha! NO! Keep crying, 4 MORE YEARS!!! TRUMP 2020 🇺🇸
A dear friend of mine (from Mexico) became a U.S. Citizen last year and this was her first year to vote as an American citizen. I have a picture of her and her husband after voting in the election this morning. They both look so proud, and I am so honored to know them. ❤️❤️❤️
As a French-Canadian, I've never been this anxious about an American election 🍿😱
At least you don't live here and have to actually live under this nutjob for another 4 years potentially!
Thank you for your moral support!!
You've got this guys We the North believe in you!
Me as a German..
Thank you!!! We need all the help we can get!! 💖💖💖💖🙏🙏🙏🙏
I'm a German and we are rooting so hard for you! We can't take 4 more years of Trump. I have family and friends over there and the angst is real. Btw. I voted in every possible election for the last 19 years and I have never once stood in line for more than 2-5 Minutes. Yes, minutes. Voting lines are not normal. Depending on what was going on in my life I opted for mail-in-voting a couple of times. Sometimes I just mailed in my ballot, sometimes I went to my local townhall voted there or just dropped it in there.
I never even had to register. My parents registered my birth and after my 16th birthday I got sent my voter documents. When I moved I just went to the local townhall and changed my address and the documents were sent there.
It is that easy.
But Germany wants everyone to vote, so there's a difference.
Same in Belgium 🇧🇪
American here. I've never had to wait in a long line either. This year is, how shall we say... "different"???
In agreement with you 100% from New Zealand - *NONE* of us can take 4 more minutes let alone 4 more years of drumpf - he is sowing division and hatred - undermining the very foundation of democracy - usa will not *survive* if he is reelected, please *VOTE* - it scares me how *DEMOCRACY* itself is being undermined in this election - people being disenfranchised - esp minorities - legal challenges to the democratic process itself - undermining stability, unity, law & order - like that incident in texas - my partner was a registered Republican in Texas (he passed 3 years ago) - he was very much *anti-drumpf* then, he would be shocked & horrified now - it is sad, scary and very frightening when the stakes are so high - not just for America but for the rest of us throughout the world - (oh and voting here - literally walk in, no queues - longest experienced was when I WORKED elections, be 10 maybe 15 people maximum about midday - back in the day before we encouraged early voting - we just had our elections, had a nice chat while waiting, 2 people ahead, a family behind - we were *only* waiting because all casting "special votes" were unable to get to our normal electorate - or had recently changed addresses like me - I updated my details and voted on the same day) - oh and voting day is ALWAYS on a *saturday* - schools, church halls - voting places *everywhere*
A big difference!
I find it very weird that in the UK, a country famous for the polite queue, there is no way in hell we'd put up with waiting an hour to vote, but they seem resigned to put up with it in the US! 🤔🤷♀️
Do they not like to pay for more polling stations or something? Considering it's the land of 'the customer is always right' service, it doesn't make any sense why they allow it...
John somewhat glosses over the idea of queues in UK elections. Our polling stations are our schools. Every community has atleast one, most have several. Most of them, if not all of the ones used are state owned and therefore under direct control. They have decent security, plenty of space, and the schools are closed for a day. I live in a town of roughly 110,000 people. We have dozens of schools. I can walk into the polling station and in my entire life I have waited no more than five minutes.
When I hear of the crazy shit that Americans have to do, including driving for hours then lining up for hours.... maybe not even getting to vote... that just seems insane. I don't understand why America doesn't use schools.
Well, because then people would be able to vote. What kind of democracy lets everybody vote? Crazy talk, that is! (I'm Australian, we do the school thing too. Elections are always on a Saturday and every school and community building is turned into a polling station)
Similar in NZ. We have polls everywhere and never queue for more than a couple of minutes.
Same in Ireland.
That’s how it has been in the US for the last 40 years of my life. This year and Trump is what is different. I’ve always voted at the school at the corner.
Polls everywhere where I’m from in the u.s., I’ve never waited. I live in a major city too. Maybe it’s the time of day you go or where you decide to go vote.
I can confirm in Aotearoa New Zealand, that every school hall becomes a polling station. We vote on the weekend and you'll get paid time off to go and vote if you work on the day. Also, our polling booths are open a couple of weeks before election day, so there's plenty of time to get your vote in and your voice heard.
(We just had our elections 2 weeks ago) There were queues, but I reckon people turned out in big numbers because we too have right-wing nutjobs in the media, opposition parties and walking amongst us .... and the majority folks were just fed up with their bullshit during a global frigging pandemic.
I had to wait about 10-15 minutes to #VOTE. Some grumpy old bugger sitting next to me tried to complain about it; so I told him it could be worse .... we could be in the USA with hours of waiting while surrounded by gun-toting white supremacists.
🤷♀️
Kia ora
I'm from NZ literally waited 30secs before I got to see someone 😀 walked straight in.
For all the issues the US has with voting I do want to point out that the states individually decide how voting works for their population and for many of the states it’s a solid process.
As a Californian, my voting booth was 2 blocks from my home and it was a 30 second wait.
New York City is a unique situation though. Lines aren’t long because they are suppressing the vote, lines are long because it’s one of the most densely populated cities on earth, though it does seem that the city government is a little incompetent on voting properly. That said, it’s incompetence and not malice.
That said, Oliver could have voted on any other day this past week or mailed his ballot in without a line. So some of the blame falls on him.
I do though understand him wanting to vote on Election Day in person as a first time voter. It’s a sacred ritual especially as a first time voter, I did the same when I could first vote.
Yeah same for the Netherlands. Every school, every elderly home. Some train stations. Last time I voted I was gone for like 8 min. 3 min walk to the voting place , I was maybe 2 min inside, 3 min back home XD. Granted if you go around 6 it might be busy cause everybody who had to go to work is going to vote then. But maybe the waiting is like 15 min or so.
Same here in Canada. There was a voting station on the university campus and I voted in between classes. That was a while ago, though. Not sure how we would have done an election during the pandemic but I feel like it would've been very simple still.
I’ve never been more excited to drop off my ballot in my entire life. Tonight truly feels like the nerve-wracking night before a major surgery. We need to cut this cancer out, America. Don’t screw it up.
What about the 60 million supporters of the evil orange narcissistic sociopathic lying toddler? They'll still be here even if Biden wins
Cutting out the main tumor is all well and good, but this election will do nothing about the widespread metastasis known as MAGA, which has been many years in the making.
@@reiniervanramshorst1031 There’s a lot of work left to do either way. Tomorrow will tell us whether it’s a terminal or treatable illness.
I described it to my friend today as the opposite of Christmas eve.
Rest of World: just fucking please!
I'm from 3rd world country, have been vote for 2 times until now. Both time, i only waited for 20 min. I thought my country is bad at the whole process to vote and the ballot was never adequate. I should not complaining. Thank god i'm still be able to vote comfortably.
The US is like Holly Wood
A fasade behind wich you find Cardboard and dirt.
I’m Australian and this election is better than anything on tv !
Good luck USA
It is boonta !
We need it thank you!
We're in the Endgame Now
Except that the outcome of the US election will impact the world economy...
Pete Mason
I’m already on the vee bees ! Lol
Amen. I wonder how TH-cam is going to be, without trump being the centre focus of every video recommended to me...
I’m just going through all of John and Stephen’s interviews again. They’re as delightful as they were originally.
same here!
I'm proud that John was proud. There's hope. Today's the day...
For sure we are all invested. Its huge and we watch everything live this night in Switzerland.
Same with me. 53% of us voted against him in 2016.
2 facts:
1) I’m Dutch and yes we are so holding our breath for you guys! You deserve better!
2) being in line to vote?! Lmao! Never ever happens here! Might have to wait 2-3 minutes.. TOPS! 😂
Thank you, Angel! You are so sweet! Please pray for us that orange guy will be gone soon.
We weren't really given much choice. It's either stay in line or leave, and the postal service was sabotaged so mail in voting was questionable. I waited to get the orange buffoon out.
@@andromedaspark2241 I know this election is too important! So I get it, but it is just shocking to me. Even in my neighbourhood there are about 5 points where you can vote (voting is on one day here).
@@mondoshredder5783 it was crazy! Still can’t believe how lucky the driver was!
Thank you, Angel Eyes! I've been voting for many years and have never waited in line. We have plenty if polling places and many of us have election day off. I think things are different this year because SO many are voting and only a few are allowed into the poll at a time because of the virus. Also, Im in NY, we hate trump, he knows it and no one is trying to suppress us!
Both of these guys are in the top tier of my imaginary best friends. Seeing them together is always a joy.
Whenever I read "Have a plan" to vote, I feel the urge to facepalm, literally. Nowhere in Europe do you have to "make a plan". Here in Germany, I get sent the documents in the mail. I then walk 2 minutes to the place indicated on the document. Maybe, when I live in the Alps, I would have to walk or even drive just a little farther. I bring that document and my passport. I wait for maybe 1 minute for the previous person to finish. I vote, I walk back to my apartment, I'm done. Voter suppression has been normalized so much in the U.S., you don't even realize how fucking far down the drain you guys are.
I admit some parts are really bad however last election as a first time voter didn't find it too difficult. Went to a nearby park office with my paper that told me where to go and it was at most 30 minutes. Afterwards I went to my boyfriend's place to meet up so we could go get some lunch and they allowed him to register at an elementary school to vote then and there and he did vote. This year I hear so many things like poll workers turning away minorities who know they are registered to vote by claiming it expired and etc. Covid tho made it more challenging because I assume that they won't open as many locations as they have in previous years. I completely agree tho "have a plan" makes me think of people who live in heavily populated centers of cities with only few locations open so the lines are hours long. I live in a city but like 10 minutes from the bustling center, where its slightly more residential/mostly minority part of town.
Hi from Australia. I have a polling station literally next door, and there is sausage.
How did the Germans not invent the democracy sausage???
@@mycosys I am so jealous! We don't have that here!
For the first time in my life, I’m considering moving out of the US.
The US is worse than most "shit hole countries" in its voter suppression scale. If you celebrate democracy, you don't do that.
I'm Brazilian and we are obsessed with this election! Here's hoping Biden wins and kicks our crazy Bolsonaro to the curb!! Also, waiting is line is insane! Here in Brazil when you register to vote you get a designated voting area so they distribute people in a way that it doesn't get busy. The longest line I've ever faced was 3 people!
In Sweden there are literally voting areas everywhere and you get a designated place depending on where you live. There's usually no or very short line to vote and we have usually 80%+ participating of the population who are old enough to vote. And yeah, it's depended on age and citizenship - you get to vote. Doesn't matter if you have a criminal record 1 mile long or some other BS reason. You get a voting card by mail - that's it. You're all set. Take your ID and go vote.
The U.S system is rigged to be exploited by those in power.
It's a disaster here. I hate it, and what our democracy has become. I live in a small county in NY and it took me over an hour in line to vote. eeek
@ Lori Yost good luck with that
Also Brazilian, and I'm glad you're one of the good ones, Hereandthere. I actually had to wait in line for about 20-30 minutes in one election, but that was because it was an unusually weird election with many positions to vote for, and people are idiots. Normally I just walk right in, push the buttons and I'm done. And we get the results for the almost 100 million votes by evening. Yes, the US electoral system is a mess.
Voted in NZ in less than 2 minutes, and that included being social distanced and hand sanitising. Hours to vote? Disgraceful.
It took them about 5 mins to draw up my papers for the election and the referendum paper as well. The queue was a bit longer, but then I'd gone to a central city polling place on a sunny saturday on, the first day voting places opened (so, 2 weeks before the election), about lunchtime, so it was going to be the peak time - I reckon I queued for about 15 minutes tbh. But I've voted in quite a few elections over the years and every other time I've just walked straight in, no queue. Easy. And no need for ID, paperwork, anything like that, you just vote. It's all so ridiculously simple and low-stress here - the US approach always looks so bizarre, like they almost don't want people to vote at all.
Colorado was easy ad hell. Only 3 states have had standard mail in voting including Colorado.
The last Canadian federal election, I stopped by my polling place after work when I expected it to be busiest; instead it took me 6 minutes from leaving my car, walking inside, voting, and then getting back into my car.
🇨🇦 We just had a provincial election here in BC. Walked in took 2 min to vote and it is the same for federal elections always.
Them reminiscing about that time Oliver was a guest while Stephen hosted his show in the bathtub...what was that, March? April? Feels like a LIFETIME ago.
It's been 84 years!
The correct grammar is “their” not them! Try to learn correct grammar, and syntax! Google it!
Literally a decade's worth of changes have occurred between now and then, so makes sense
@@heleneschenbacher8512 I do actually have a good handle on grammar and syntax, but since this is the comments section of TH-cam, and not a scholarly article or resume, I prefer to employ Writer's Voice and write the same way I speak in order to sound more personable and less dry.
That said, I stand by my use of "them". You seem to have assumed that I was using "reminiscing" as a gerund (when a verb serves as a noun), in which case it would be the subject of the sentence and "their" would've been correct. But I was using it as a verb. The first section of my sentence is categorized as a heading/caption/label, with different requirements than a proper full sentence. The complete version of my comment--if I'd wanted it to be unnecessarily verbose and hard to follow--would've been "The moment of the two of them reminiscing about [xyz]: when was that?", but I wanted to keep it simpler, so the subject ("The moment") was implied, and the object is indeed "[the two of] them".
With the magnitude of unprecedented crap that has happened this year, I would recommend channeling your frustration and sense of justice into causes more worthy than correcting people's grammar on TH-cam. Or, alternatively:
*Try to learn serenity, and contentment! Google it!*
(I took the liberty of googling it for you.)
www.huffpost.com/entry/getting-to-serenity-10-daily-habits-for-inner-peace_b_7184830
www.mindful.org/how-do-we-cultivate-contentment/
@@-EmilyGrace- damn💀💀
As someone from the Netherlands, talking about ‘hours’ when discussing waiting times to vote sounds absolutely insane
Hell, I'm from Poland and it sounds insane. That should tell you something...
Atleast they get to vote. In my country the votes are already casted when the voter arrives at the polling station. Sometimes dead people also votes. Our government gets re-elected with 90% of the parliamentary vote. My country is Bangladesh if you were wondering.
Right? Same here in Germany. It's completely nuts, from an European perspective, I suppose.
You should come in my country :)) always ends with fights and police :))
This is the first time in my memory, I'm 68 years old, that I can remember people standing in line for hours to vote. I think because a lot of people are just nervous about what's happening in this country and those who did not vote in the past finally woke up and decided to vote. With trump trying to suppress voting measures by taking out ballot boxes, rigging the USPS and everything else that's happening, people are afraid that their vote will not arrive on time or be counted. So people are coming to vote early. God help us if trump gets in again.
I’m spanish and I live in Germany. I could vote per mail very easily and without any cost. My husband is german and when he goes to vote I wait with my son outside the school for 5-10 min tops. Democracy must be a human right no matter where. I admire you immensely for waiting 11 hours to employ your little given rights. You deserve better. I really wish you get it and at least get closer to european standards. And for Europe, let’s take this as a lesson and stick together. Goddammit.
53% of us voted against him in 2016.
Yeah, try to beat all the crazy bureaucracy that is needed in order to vote by mail in Spain. Easy and great in theory, nearly impossible in practice.
@@danielsabanoglu7036 I do not know about your circumstances. I talk from my experience which is: I only have to inscribe myself in the Spanish Consulate and they just send me everything automatically to my home address with a mark envelope to send back and that is all. They even send me in advance the political panfletos of the parties. Also from my experience I can be sure that the European Post service works just fine. I do hope you can vote next time if it was difficult for you. Maybe contact your consulate. You just have to register as a Spanish citizen in that country and sign the Census.
Hours in line... Honestly, why is America so bad at democracy?
because that is the way they want it to be
Because a certain political party directly benefits from less people being able to vote and has made it harder to do so
the USA is a walking, talking contradiction of everything it claims to stand for
@Bigfoot this comment makes no sense and it shouldn’t matter how many people live in US. Doesn’t mean our democracy should not work properly. For proof why don’t you look at the comments from people who live in India where there are 1 billion citizens. Our states are roughly the size of European countries - if they don’t have voting lines and issues with voting, why do our states (since voting rules and laws differ state to state here) have so many issues?
53% of us voted against him in 2016.
I'm practically getting ulcers watching from Canada, it's too close to home for me to feel ambivalent about this election! I've never waited longer than 10 minutes to vote, ever in my life for any level of government. We also do not have to register to vote! Just take your ID to the polling place, and done. If by chance, they can't figure out who you are, you will not be turned away, they go up the chain to figure out how to confirm you so you can vote.
I worked at one of the federal elections in the early 2000's in a local voting location in small town Ontario. The instructions were more about what we're NOT allowed to ask when they get to the table. Not even for ID. Just state your name and address; we checked it off. Of course they paired me with a nightmare second officer, ie. they put me in charge, who proceeded to ask half the people those exact questions, asked for ID and wouldn't stop doing it the entire night. It's really very very basic work; no tricks to it if you can take little bits of paper (ballots) into individual piles and count them and write down those numbers on the report. Apparently many people can't so every team is there until they do.
Same system and experience in Iceland as in Canada for me.
I usually go before classes since I'm a morning person. Usually it's dead and I get to vote right away. I've gone when it's busy in the afternoon, I think I waited 10 minutes?
here is a very sad fact. Many states insist on ID, which on the surface, seems reasonable. But we have so very many people who must then choose between an ID or feeding their kids. An ID costs 20-30 dollars, and I can tell you that can be a big chunk of change for many. I once was so poor as a single mom of two, that the $25 bucks for an ID would have meant literally 2 1/2 MONTHS of my food budget at the time (trust me, doable, but your kids don't get great nutrition, and I often went hungry). And it wasn't that I was lazy and wasn't working. I worked a ton of hours, 3 jobs. But my babysitter got 3/4's of my pay, and then there was rent, electric, gas, car, etc. I drove an old piece of junk gas guzzler (thank you, person, who stole it on thanksgiving day)...so yeah. the poor? think on that a bit, then add the high doctor bills just to pay for shots for your kids ($60 bucks to walk into the doctors' office, add the shots). An ID? are you f'n kidding me? I had one, yes, as I had to drive. but what about those that don't have a car, a license, but kids? This world is def not for the poor. Sheer grit and a TON of luck got me into college and a new life. I can now help others. So no. State ID? how about that SS card, Birth cert, or even a dang piece of mail with name and addy along with a receipt for payment of electric bill? Shouldn't that be enough? And after this election of suppress the vote like EVERYWHERE? Doesn't everyone think something is very wrong with this picture???
These overly onerous ID laws in America are holdovers from Southern Reconstruction and Jim Crowe days, when the effort was focused on keeping Blacks from voting, or anyone else The Powers that Be deemed unworthy of the privilege of voting, such as poor white people, Hispanics , etc. there is no excuse for them these days.
I'm in Europe too, and could hardly sleep I'm soooo anxious! Please, please, make him go away!
Same with me. 53% of us voted against him in 2016.
Please let John never lose that wonderful British accent of his. He may identify as American but I'm having none of it.
Agreed!
I´d love to hear John Oliver as Forrest Gump.
The last time I voted here in India, I went to the polling station nearby at 10 am, literally just walked in, voted and came out. There was no line and the whole thing took 2 minutes. And this is in an impoverished country that's literally run by a fascist administration. You gotta catch up America
Do you know the meaning of the word fascist. By your own admission said the voting practice was free fair and easy for you. Just for your hatred for a politician you are calling a democratically elected individual a fascist. Lol of there is any hate it you and your thinking
Yes the man elected by the clear majority in the largest democratic election held in human history is a fascist. Cry me a river
Same with me. 53% of us voted against him in 2016.
Ya...but how many people live in India?
Oh....
@@notlikely4468 1.3 billion people? In other words, roughly 4x the population of the US? Right? Right.
I now learn that John has 2 modes: Suit Mode, and Pullover Hoodie (Liverpool FC Emblem Preferred) Mode.
I've been staying up late just to calm & reassure some fellow Americans that are scared of what lies ahead; I just want y'all to know, as long as good people still breathe, it's going to be ok. Once you've voted, feel free to turn off notifications & do something that makes you happy.
Thank you for doing that! We do need to support one another during this tumultuous time!
I don't even know if I"ll be able to sleep tonight! This is crazy.
Excellent way to put it! My teenage son just asked me if there’s going to be a civil war. I reminded him that majority of Americans have sense and that the media gives too much time to the ignorant ones, making it appear that there are more of them than there are. The fools are outnumbered. Trump won in 2016 due to our electoral college. The majority of Americans are good, sensible people.
🙌🏻🙌🏻 have faith in our system and the people you don’t see. They are faithful patriots. Even if Trump wins, we’ll get through it together and we’ll come out smarter and stronger. This experiment is resilient if nothing else!
John Oliver, you are one of us. You say "hola" when you goddamn please.
In Sweden there are literally voting areas everywhere and you get a designated place depending on where you live. There's usually no or very short line to vote and we have usually 80%+ participating of the population who are old enough to vote. And yeah, it's depended on age and citizenship - you get to vote. Doesn't matter if you have a criminal record 1 mile long or some other BS reason. You get a voting card by mail - that's it. You're all set. Take your ID and go vote.
The U.S system is rigged to be exploited by those in power.
Damn I wish I lived in Sweden.
Yeah same in the UK, and we have quite bad jerrymandering too, so America is totally messed
@@Alex-cw3rz A mess doesn't even scratch the surface
@@to55e you're 100% right
The voting rights denied to felons in the US is crazy,. Either voting is your right as a citizen or it isn't a right at all. In Finland the prisoners get to vote where they are, it's called something like "voting inside an institution" in the law. Research says it's the first time many of them vote, one reason being they haven't bothered to get an ID before, even though in Finland it's your right to have an ID, the social security system will therefore pay for one, if you are poor, unemployed etc. (50E/ 59 USD).
We owe a deep debt of gratitude to the African-American voters that put us over the top for Biden/Harris to win the election. 87% of the black vote went to Biden. He couldn't have won without them. Thank you, thank you for your hard work, your suffering and your votes!
Even in my tiny island in Azores, stuck in the middle of the Atlantic, each community center in each town is a voting place. In the 50's the United States were the saving grace of my community, offering exile to thousands, during a volcanic crisis. At the time we were under a Fascist Dictatorship (until 1974), and people were very poor (it was a celebration when a bag with old shoes/ clothing arrived from America, sent by family). Now, I am pretty sure that we are better off than our family members in America: healthcare, cheap education, safety (there is practically no gun violence), even racism seems to be much less prevalent in our small/ very conservative community. I wish you all the best. It is time to the politicians in the US to step up and start serving their people.
portugal crl! ps. assim que regressar a PT vou definitivamente viver para Sao Jorge!
You live in the Azores?!?! Wow!
Portugaaaaal ✌️✌️
My ex-husband was born in the Azores, I remember his mom telling me about live under the dictatorship and how they didn't have electricity and that she was embarrassed to wear shoes because she was the only one of her friends that could afford shoes, she didn't want to be different. Then she said all of the sudden, when the government changed everybody was getting money and electricity and they could buy TVs ECT. Still she wanted to come to the US and when she did as an adult she was so excited by the abundance of ice cream that she would eat 2 quarts a day. She didn't know she didn't know she would gain so much weight because she never had the opportunity to eat this much before.
Room for two more?
Can verify John’s statement: here in Australia we have, for four years too long, been closely following the Trump ‘presidency’ with varying degrees of horror, bewilderment, and (tbh) regular facetious amusement.
To my sane, rational and non-hateful American friends - we love you! So please don’t screw this up. The world IS watching!
Peace and love from ‘Straya 🇦🇺✌️❤️☺️
Same with me. 53% of us voted against him in 2016.
Much love in return! You Aussie's are the best! 💜 Thank you for all your support -- we need every bit we can to make it through the next few days because they're going to be rough.
No pressure..lol. 😂
We Americans love our Aussie friends. We're trying to fix this nightmare!
Ditto from Ingrid at the very tip of Africa!!!
John is right, I've never 'queued' for any period of time to vote in the UK.
In
Vote
out
In 60 seconds
If British people had to wait for even more than a few minutes, I don't think anyone would vote.
Yeah, in Switzerland, I gave my ballot to the mailman from my doorstep....
Neither have I and I’m in the u.s. in a big city
@@Marciesplash where at bruv
I apologize for my lack of decorum, but I genuinely read “queefed” instead of queued and woke up both my kids and all 3 of my dogs laughing
Similar in India . When I voted for the first time last year during the general elections, I stood in line for hardly 20 mins and even that was because of some technical glitch with the voting machine . And the polling place was a school on the next street . It's easier to get a gun @ Walmart in the US than voting .
"...scanning it into the machine and the machine saying 'your vote has been counted' - I nearly burst into tears."
I slid mine into the ballot box and was only hoping as I still am that my dirty, red state won't just sit on the box like what happened here in the midterms. But I'm glad that it's done, and that I didn't contract a potentially deadly illness from doing so.
Same with me. 53% of us voted against him in 2016.
I am lucky to live in Arizona where, as long as you like, you can vote by mail. I received a text that my ballot was on its way to me. I took the ballot with my coffee, sat down and work on it and looked up more information before I made my selection. Sealed and signed it. Put it in my mailbox. A couple days later, I received a series of texts that the County received my ballot, it verified my signature against one on file, and it was counted. A very pleasant experience.
Big thanks to you all spent your time and energy to participate in this civil endeavor. 🖖
Thanks for voting! Having voters wait in line for hours is insane. Not having a holiday for voting is a clear hit against people who have the sort of minimum wages job where you can't take half a day off.
I hope so much that if nothing else, Biden manages to at least, by EU standards, normalize the voting process.
Anyone else going to have trouble sleeping election night? Good luck everyone and breathe deep !
Yes
Hell, I'm having trouble sleeping tonight. The anticipation/abject terror is unreal.
Already planning on not sleeping for a few days given America’s current infection with agent orange
I’m awake now..
I’ve not slept in four years
Needed this energy. We're going to get through this together, whatever the election brings 💪
From AUS been watching for last 3 months daily. Hopefuly American regains its sanity.
53% of us voted against him in 2016.
The global support im seeing in these comments is humbling. I'm so ashamed of many of our citizens and our leader here and I don't want the world to think those few that speak loudest have the most to say or even represent how most of us feel. It makes me happy to know that the hope for change is being thought of from beyond our borders as well as within.
I feel the same way. I travel quite a bit and I try not to talk too much so people can't figure out I'm American.
Same with me. 53% of us voted against him in 2016.
I do gotta disagree with this, no offense. But I think you need to be an American citizen to even have the ability to vote.
@@yourfriendlyibecs6150 "This is the first American election John Oliver can vote in since he BECAME AN AMERICAN CITIZEN..."
When a Brit tells you the lines are madness, you know the lines are MADNESS.
Here's from Germany: Planning to get up at 3 am local time to watch CNN and zoom with two friends. I just pray to God all of tomorrow's papers headline: He's fired!
Here's hoping
🤞🏻🤞🏻 hopefully!!!
Yeah we are invested. The US has a rather large presence in this world and right now America is a danger to the world.
Voting in the Netherlands is a 5 minute affair, 10 minutes at most...
And everyone gets a ballot sent home to bring to the polling stations! No one needs to register to vote, when you are registered as a Dutch citizen, you automatically get one
Same in Australia and polling stations everywhere.
@@Royo2013 no voter supression here
Voting in Germany is just as quick. And there are so many polling stations that you usually don't have to "travel" far. So far, voting has never taken me more than 20 minutes (that is including the walk to the polling station, the voting itself and going home) unless I stayed at the polling station (i.e. the elementary school) for some cake afterwards :)
And we have polling stations everywhere.... Shit's not that hard, elections here must be the simplest thing to organize
Voting in Canada:
We get a card in the mail automatically when it's voting season that says "the Government based on census data has determined there are ___ (# ) people of voting age at this residence, please see your nearest polling location"...when they say nearest, they mean literally a block from your house because ANYWHERE can be a polling station - a school, a church, a community centre, an apartment building etc. I've voted at an apartment building, a school and a church. One time I went to vote in the middle of work because all of these places are usually 5-10 min walk from wherever you are. And of course everytime the whole process took an average of 10 minutes or so. They are usually not very busy because there are so many options.
Bottom line is, there is no voter registration, no electoral college, no standing around for hours, no hassle, no fuss. It is your right to vote so these things are set up for you. All you have to do is research your parties. Everything that is happening in the US is NOT NORMAL. We just want you to know. Good luck America.
But with such a complete system, how can you suppress voters you don't want to count? :-O
@@Figgy5119 Well that would certainly be a pickle 🤔...
I guess they can't!
In my state, Missouri, after registering 2 months in advance, you had to go through a confusing process to figure out which kind of ballot you qualified for based on one of 10 "reasons," then mail in a request, have it mailed back, then fill it out, get a *witness* AND get it notarized by a certified Notary Public (only on one of the specific inner envelopes) and then mail it back. Our state spent thousands of dollars on new drop boxes, but then never put them out and went to court to say that if your ballot got lost in the mail, too bad, you can't have a vote.
This has the same energy when I first saw a healthy relationship for the first time in my life. Yeah now we know it’s not normal 😑 thank you ❤️
Thanks
I live in Washington State, where we have an all mail-in voting system. I filled out my ballot on my bed, in my pajamas, sipping a beer, filling in the bubbles at my leisure while researching issues I was curious about on my phone.
A couple days later I dropped it into the ballot drop box at the city hall, which is conveniently nearby. No lines.
I'm very very lucky, especially for this country.
Me too. Utah.
Same here.
As an Oregonian, I LOVE our system.. It's so nice to receive the voting guide a few weeks before your ballot, so you can take your time to research the candidates and measures. When it's time to fill in the ballot, it's so easy and chill that I'm still shocked that rest of the country does not have the opportunity for a stress-free voting experience. Hopefully, after this election, states will adopt the vote by mail strategy.
Also, good luck today, fellow Americans
Same here. Live in Arizona and it’s mail in voting as well as in person. Filled out my ballot at leisure and Dropped my ballot off early at our civic center, no lines, no waiting.
First time for "mail-in" type ballot because of covid. I LOVED IT!❤
Will be voting this way from now on. Came in mail, sat relaxed while filling out. Course, this time there was no other options, but normally, there are still ones I might have second thoughts on. Anyway, took it to township and dropped it in box Oct 2.
SO EASY!!🇺🇸❤💯
Love to all!! 🌊🌊💙💙✊🤝✌💪❤💯
I got something in common with John Oliver! This is my first election I get to vote in, not only because I wasn’t old enough for the last presidential election but because I became a US citizen last year!
Congrats on your citizenship and your first time voting!
congratulations on both counts!
Welcome 🇺🇸
4 hour wait at Sydney US Consulate yesterday. Worth every second, though it was a long wait. Crazy security.
It was a ridiculous wait compared to AUS elections
"I'll take the pickled egg" "so you're voting for Thatcher again?" LMFAO
I love John Oliver he’s so adorable. He makes me wish I had a brother like him
I DID have a brother like him!
@@robinjackson7882 Lucky you :( want one too
As a Canadian who just woke up at 6am in a cold sweat, YEA WE CARE EH!
Just in case... What do you think is a better city to move to: Ottawa or Montreal?
@@royrowland5763 Montreal is Canada's current COVID hub and also overpriced. Ottawa's Covid situation is not ideal but the house market is much more reasonable. Good chunk of citizens there are public servants for Federal Govt
Roy Rowland If those are your only choices, then Ottawa. There are lots of nice places, and cheaper, though.
This made me laugh and cry hysterically. Thanks for that, needed some kind of external expelling of nerves. I literally can't sleep.
I can confirm in Australia, almost every school in the country is a polling place, the election is held on the weekend and employers must allow employees time to vote.
And a big line would be a 20 minute wait at a stretch.
We are all hoping that America can join us and the rest of the civilized world in conducting elections and basically everything else, really soon. All the best brothers and sisters.
I'm Irish 🇮🇪 and haven't had a decent night's sleep in a while, thanks to this election. So many global efforts to tackle climate change, the pandemic, to champion peace, all hanging in the balance. Also, in order to watch the results, we have to endure the marathon of 12 midnight to 5/6am, then go to work!!! Good luck tonight, America. (One last thing: what's with the queuing for hours? I've never missed a vote in my life, and never once had to queue. I'd say "Sort it out" but you have bigger fish to fry.)
US elections are controlled by the individual states. Most of the hours long cueues are in Democrat voting areas of Republican controlled states. It's completely intentional.
Don’t be scared ! Let’s fight back the wave ! To all undecided voters. Show them those 4 links together. This might help the undecided voters to decide to vote :
th-cam.com/video/tLcTgJULW0M/w-d-xo.html
(When it is crazy, it get crazier about covid)
th-cam.com/video/Eym7u6E8rjQ/w-d-xo.html
(The lies about his commitment for the black)
th-cam.com/video/fQAVoJzkDqo/w-d-xo.html
(The occult truth about Trump)
th-cam.com/video/tLcTgJULW0M/w-d-xo.html
(We fight or we loose it all)
#SaveLive #WalkAway
Early voting took place in a limited # of locations with in each state. States foot the bill for this and could not have foreseen the turn out. Those patient people are heroes. Covid certainly changed the drama this time.
I was working an early voting station last week, & we had international observers come by. That was a bit of an eye-opener.
Edit: Also we seem so enamored of tradition that we're unwilling to change or innovate how we do things. Fundamentalism seems to run very deep.
Hi. Rest of the world here. Please don't screw this up... again! Thank you :).
The view in Poland: we're on the edge of our seats. Take care, stay safe... Good luck!
Need help screwing in a lightbulb?
Same with me. 53% of us voted against him in 2016.
@@MajorGeneralDiscomfort It's people like you that don't belong!
@@MajorGeneralDiscomfort I'm somehow mentally deficient because I express caring???
@@ripmomcovid4678 So sorry for your loss, Lori. Hugs!
Yes, the world is watching, and we can't let them down.
Them reminiscing about that time Oliver was a guest while Stephen hosted his show in the bathtub...what was that, March? April? Feels like a LIFETIME ago.
As someone from Baltimore, John is 100% right that our accent makes no sense, but I'd still LOVE to hear him try.
"Aaron earned an iron urn"
I’m from Baltimore, and I’m just happy we’re getting attention unconnected to The Wire 😂
We just had an election in NZ - there was a voting station in the local shopping mall. It was open for voting for 2 weeks before election night, so people could just stop and vote as they were passing by. No queues.
Agreed, no queues for me either. Two minutes after arriving, I was leaving. Voting, done. Two referendums, done. Easy.
5 minute wait for me at the local disability centre. I thought the early voting was planned and executed very well!
A couple of minutes is the longest I’ve had to wait in line to vote in Denmark. We consider it a low turnout if only 85% of voters turn out. All citizens are automatically eligible when they turn 18.
Same with me. 53% of us voted against him in 2016.
Another reason to be envious of my Danish friends! Our system has been made purposefully more difficult over the years. Then you add that every state has a different set of election laws and it's a big mess. There's a wonderful book on the history of U.S. voter suppression called One Person, No Vote by Carol Anderson. It's both fascinating and horrifying.
Here in Canada, almost every school in the country is a polling station, and it has never taken me more than 10 minutes waiting to walking out of the poll. Also, what is this "register to vote" BS? Here in Canada, every citizen is automatically "registered to vote".
As one of the "rest of the world" people, yeah, we're invested in seeing the orange demon get booted.
Which new war do you think Biden will start first?
@@chubsley2000 war on coronavirus will probably be 1st
@@chubsley2000 haha, you had to ask!?
Got your answer?
Go back to faux news!
@@veganpowerlab lol good call
@@chubsley2000 aw, get out of here
New Zealand for Biden ❤️🌊❤️🌊❤️🌊❤️
Irish person here, obsessed since before the last election, praying America sees sense and votes out trump emphatically.
I was staying at a home in Wexford town a few months before the 2016 election. I was telling my Irish hosts then about how embarrassing it was to be an American with Donald Trump on the world stage, and that was BEFORE he won. Thanks for the support, it really is appreciated.
Watching these two chat is one of the best results of the election so far!
I love these two guys. ❤🥇Colbert and Oliver are outstanding!
In the UK we vote with a pencil and paper (so can’t be hacked). 3 minutes was the longest I had to queue to vote, and what was the EU referendum where there was a 72% turnout.
“As Lincoln once said to a nation far more divided than ours...”We are not enemies, but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.’”
Trump said, “Pavarotti liked me for some reason.”
53% of us voted against him in 2016.
Not sure I agree with “a nation far more divided than ours.” The last four years have clearly illuminates by the massive chasm between progressives and conservatives. And then there are the Trump supporters. I think we haven’t descended into OUTRIGHT civil war, but we are definitely at war.
@@sarahzentexas it’s a false chasm perpetuated by extremists on social media. The majority of people in the middle have too many real Life responsibilities to fan the flames of discord. Regardless of how to fix them, there are issues we can agree on: pre-existing medical conditions need to be protected, college has gotten way too expensive, tap water should be safe to drink, elected officials should represent their constituents, blanket name calling is wrong, and compromise is sometimes necessary to get things done.
@@ripmomcovid4678 I'm sorry for your loss.
Up in Canada it takes me a total of 6 to 7 minutes , and that includes parking, walking to the local school and voting .
We have a democracy here, encouraging all citizens to vote .
In the midterms here in the USA that's exactly how long it took me and in exactly the same way.
"No I haven't talked to Cher before! There's whole systems in place to stop that." 😂😂😂
Voting in Portugal (10min tops):
- One polling place for every 5k citizens.
- You can call, text or check website for your polling place based on your id number ahead or in the day, most likely the last one.
- Every polling place have 5-10 desks, every desk have 3 volunteers to check you id number with register logs.
- Get a ballot, vote in boot, place it in safe vault and get out.
PS: Since its based on your id number the polling place are ageist in nature, its a emotional right of passage when you change places, like sitting at the grown up table.
Same with me. 53% of us voted against him in 2016.
He's right about the queues for voting. I'm in a small town in NZ and when I voted early there was a queue for 10-15mins because they weren't expecting so many people that day. People walked out because they didn't want to wait 10mins. Unacceptable.
@Michael Wilson sounds like you know more about that sort of thing than me mate
is voting compulsory in nz like in oz?
@@radchabi3943 no.
@@fionnagrant6636 So what percentage of NZealanders actually voted for that moron Jacynda?
What's the talk about John's accent??
The man speaks straight up English.
babe. every single person on earth who speaks has an accent. him speaking english doesnt mean he doesnt have an accent.
@@queerbrowngirl9293
Babygirl😜, of course you are right. Nevertheless, John's talk rings way cleaner in my ears than Stephen's 😂.
Greetz from Germany.
I live in far away South Africa and your elections give me palpitations every time i think of you guys voting Caligura back into office. You are truly leaders of the world.
You get palpitations?!
I've been literally, physically sick to my stomach every day for 4 years....combined with migraines. Also, I want to apologize for....well....the USA, for the last few years. We have pretty much been a global embarrassment. We aren't all stupid, I promise.
the Netherlands are watching! we have our literal train wreck here, but yours is much worse and hopefully ending tonight!
Thank you, we will get the orange idiot out one way or another.
Same with me. 53% of us voted against him in 2016.
@@ripmomcovid4678 miss, thank you for your service! You just helped save your country and even the planet of this buffoon!
It's almost a certainty that there won't be a decision made tonight. It takes time for the votes to be counted, always, but especially this time it will.
Our train wreck was literally saved by a whale...
Hi America, this is the rest of the world commenting; tomorrow you'll decide what kind of planet we'll all be sharing, please let us relax (at least for 4 years) and vote Biden in. Thanks.
Millions of us already have.
I did too
I want america like China or Cuba
@@RockDavid - Thank you for pointing out the planned failure of the US education system as regards Civics.
Good job. 🙄
as a Baltimorean I'm telling you that sound that makes no sense is "oh" pronounced almost like "ew", combined with sticking an R randomly in the middle of the word wash, and served with a side of removing syllables ("Balmur"). #MDrepresent!!!
This is so nerve wrecking . Can’t wait for this nightmare to be over ...Biden2020
Almost there Susan!
Oh please please please please please please please let this happen! The world can't handle four more years.
I. Can't. Sleep.
Good luck from UK.
DUMP Trump!
@@sluttymctits4496 nice name
I took these days off work to follow your elections. Greetings form Spain, stay strong and vote!
Can confirm as a Canadian I have been watching this show everyday since the pandemic started. Helps me learn about American politics in a way that isn't instantly soul-crushing
I'm Dutch. Greetings from Amsterdam in the Netherlands! November 3rd is here! I'm afraid and hopefull at the same time... Will the world be free of the orange Thing and his palls? Keeping my fingers crossed!
John Oliver's die hard laughing makes me laugh, honestly been a long time since I had tears from laughing, the sewage plant stuff was hilarious, imagine oliver colbert and stewart are today's Abbott and Costellos, Martin and Lewis. Always fun watching any of the three together
In Australia we have compulsory voting (so way higher per capita voting), and I have never ever had to wait in a line for any amount of time! How you’ve normalised voting lines is a terrible thing for democracy.
Nothing normal about it. California has had permanent mail voting for years, as have several other states. Republican controlled states fight it, because they know that they will lose if everyone can participate.
Same with me. 53% of us voted against him in 2016.
I have never been so anxious about a non-Australian election.... This is the big one! We need America to remain a strong democracy with strong institutions. America is Australia's brother, and we've always been there for each other. With you every step of the way today.
Takes at most 15 minutes to vote in my Australian town, but keep in mind that voting is compulsory, so everyone turns out.
53% of us voted against him in 2016.
I hit the jackpot! Both of my favorites together! Thank you for great laughs!!
Germany: I've voted in person around 40 times in local, state, country and european elections and it never took me more than 5 minutes.
Same with me. 53% of us voted against him in 2016. I know Germans know about being hijacked by a sociopath.
@@ripmomcovid4678 Sorry for your loss Lori. Take care and stay safe.
not exactly the same thing, but I also voted for the first time for president as a puerto rican transplant in florida
Congratulations! 🎉🎊🎉🎊
I can't stand that so many US citizens are not allowed to vote in presidential elections 🤬
Can you explain to me, an European, how John Oliver already voted? He talks about standing in line. Do you have to stand in a line for mail in voting?
@@tpal3243 - Many places allow early, in person voting, to ease the lines on 'voting day'.
While John could have voted by mail (either by mailing his ballot or dropping it off) and avoided the line, but I suspect that he wanted the experience of voting in person for his first go at US elections.
@@wickednwyld aah okay, thank you!
@@wickednwyld I didn't know that there is early in person voting. Where I live there is only in person voting on election day or mail in voting
watching from Germany where you can wake up very hungover at 1 pm on election day walk to a polling station, forget to bring your ID and still vote within 10 minutes.
I burst into tears while still inside the booth. Such an emotional time. 🌎
Never had to wait in line more than 5 minutes in Canada. What's going on?
He probably went at a busy time, like early in the morning, some people try to vote before work or to a busy polling location. I didn’t wait at all when I voted, My friend went super early on the first day and she waited an hour.
Well the vote is trying to be tampered with.
Some of it is covid 19, fewer volunteers to make certain the vote is accurate. However, the republicans have taken out many polling places, they have removed sorting machines at post offices, to slow down delivery of mailed ballots and president pumpkin head is encouraging republicans to wait u til election day and go vote in person. They have attributed 700 deaths to attendance at trump rallies.
Kate wrote this
They vote for more than one office in each election.
In Washington State, in addition to president, they will vote for representatives, 1/3 of senators, (not sure if either of these are up for election this year), governor, lieutenant governor, several cabinet posts, superintendents, state representatives (2), state senators, and Supreme Court and appeals judges. They must spend longer voting than people in other countries stand in line. Every two years there are down ballot elections which really matter. States determine election laws.
Some of the offices are only for two years so how much listening are they doing between campaigning? They are screwed because their system is screwed.
Same with me. 53% of us voted against him in 2016.
Last federal election in Canada, I think we were in line for 15 minutes -- but half the neighbourhood apparently had the same bright idea of coming into the advanced poll on a nice Sunday afternoon. :)