Turing up at polling place is compulsory here,

what you do with your ballot before you put it in box is up to you ,

There is a polling place at every primary school,

there are  3 within 10 mins walk from my house.

Why is there a problem (or seems to be)  with voting in the USA

The longest ive waited to vote would be about 20 mins,and that was because I was early and it wasn't open, 

Why in the USA do you see people queuing for hours ?

I would have thought a country so sophisticated !!

 as the USA would have this down pat..... 

You do it every 4 years...... 

So what's the  go here?

A lot of people are going to be voting by mail this time around to be safe from Covid.  Apparently the U.S. Postal Service is not equipped to handle the volume.  The Postal Service has been crippled since this:

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/apr/15/afl-cio/widespread-facebook-post-blames-2006-law-us-postal/ - https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/apr/15/afl-cio/widespread-facebook-post-blames-2006-law-us-postal/

And now one of Trump's leading donors is in charge of the Postal Service:

https://www.theroot.com/trump-hires-donor-with-no-experience-to-run-the-u-s-po-1843313515 - https://www.theroot.com/trump-hires-donor-with-no-experience-to-run-the-u-s-po-1843313515

And these are the changes that have occurred that may help disenfranchise voters:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/13/united-states-postal-service-trump-republicans - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/13/united-states-postal-service-trump-republicans

About 48 states have been notified that if people wait till the last minute to vote, there is no guarantee the ballots would be postmarked and delivered in time.  The Democrats requested more money in the Heroes Act to help fund the Postal Service; the Republican Party is not interested in giving it, because Trump says mail-in voting is more prone to fraud in every state except Florida, which is his legal residency.  Trump will be voting by mail-in ballot, though.

So my advice if you are voting by mail in The States, get your ballot ASAP and return it ASAP!

As for long lines in regular times, well, let's just say that it is said that some areas are gerrymandered in such a way as to make it more difficult for certain voters (poor, disabled, people of color) who are said to vote more for one party than the other, to vote, thereby giving the advantage to the other party, the one said to be doing the gerrymandering.  In my area, many of the polling places were actually in the lobbies of old-age homes, and because of the danger of Covid, these are being closed to voters.  Ours was 1/2 mile away from me.  Now in November my mother and I would have to go to the High School, which is several miles away, and will be packed with voters because so many of the old age homes have been closed to voting. 

It is also sometimes not easy to find poll workers in the best of times.  Now, a lot of the poll workers are elderly, and at risk for Covid.  It is a very untenable situation.

You will have to excuse my ignorance of your voting issues,

I use our method of voting as an example,not a criticism.....

i never took a great deal of notice in who you elected in the past, your business.....

But....

When chump started his run and After when he was elected I sat up and couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing from a President !!!!!

He showcases the very worst example of a NARSICTIC person,

Everything he says and does is "Quid pro Quo".......

Will say alot about Americans if he is reelected.....

All down to your electoral college......

According to CCN's news special.......

All very interesting.......

Scary but interesting......

Voting should be made very easy in the future....that would seem a priority to me 

Only you can change that.....

Has it worked OK for you in the past? 

I suppose if you on the winning  side yes....lol

Don't apologize, Carbon, you're cool!

I think it would probably be fair to say our voting process worked OK in the past, as long as you weren't one of those folks whose votes were being attempted to be suppressed. Although, I'm sure most Americans would appreciate more polling places, and/or a simpler, secure electronic way to vote.  Don't get me started on the Electoral College, now...

I'm sure there are others who may disagree, though.

In Finland there is a custom of "Pre-Voting".  As there is a national register of all citizens (something I know the USA does not have, and so this could not work there in this form) every person eligible to vote is sent, by Post to their registered address, a form that states where voting areas are and also allows for the person to sign a proxy vote over to someone else.   Then for a week's time before the actual vote people can go to to polling stations and leave their 'pre-vote' in a sealed envelope.  This going in person allows for id-s to be checked.  The votes are only counted when the polls have closed on the official election date.

In our village, there are more than enough volunteers to woman the polling station for the week and for the actual date of the vote.   The voting station is set up in the young people's club room in the centre of the village.

I think mail in voting would be more secure than the computer voting machines......

Definitely, as long you didn't have anyone and their donor/lackeys attempting to suppress the vote by crippling the Postal Service.

And then there's gerrymandering.  But that's a different discussion altogether!

Yes, I touched on gerrymandering above as it relates to voter suppression, but not how it relates to deliberately affecting the balance of of a certain party within a given area.  Because you're right, that is a another kettle of fish altogether.

ViQueen24 wrote:  that is a another kettle of fish altogether.

And it smells as if it is over three days old!

https://www.bostonherald.com/2020/09/03/massachusetts-4th-congressional-district-thousands-of-ballots-found-in-franklin-jesse-mermells-campaign-solicits-recount-signatures/ - https://www.bostonherald.com/2020/09/03/massachusetts-4th-congressional-district-thousands-of-ballots-found-in-franklin-jesse-mermells-campaign-solicits-recount-signatures/  

This is between two democrats in MA.

 Imagine mail in votes for the Nation.

Does look a bit ridiculous from here........

BBC News - US election 2020: World reaction to long queues of voters in US

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-us-2020-54532189 - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-us-2020-54532189

As insane as it makes Americans, at least someone's getting a laugh out of it.

I don't think people laugh,

Most just can't believe how hard it seems to vote, 

And made deliberately hard, or so it seems, and I watch lots of different news stations from around the world,

It's more scary than actually laughable.....

America holds itself up as a beacon of hope for opressed people all over the world......

Not a good look if the vote of some is suppressed......or looks like it is.......

Please remember you Yank's,

The world needs a Strong united, United States,

What do you think it looks like when you have a president advocating kidnapping and execution of an elected person for invoking CDC guildlines......

I mean really!!!!!

REALLY!!!!! 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Long_Knives - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Long_Knives

Another write-up on the problem.https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-54240651

Includes things like some people have to drive over 100 miles to vote.   

.

This is not something I can laugh about, in my opinion it makes a mockery of democracy and so makes me sad.   It also undermines any foreign policy to encourage democracy where it is weak.

My point exactly EdwinSm, 

Democracy =free and fair vote

Otherwise there is chaos.....

Spend millions (a billion in chumps case)courting a vote,

Make it very hard to cast that vote.....

Madness......well that's how it looks to the people outside the USA......

1st world country ??

India does it better......

Needs to be fixed.....

Never happen.....lol

Stay well all  😷😉

PS.link didn't work 😊

BBC News - US election 2020: Why it can be hard to vote in the US

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-us-2020-54240651 - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-us-2020-54240651