Just a few points I have noticed living in Germany:
- German elections are on a Sunday, not a Tuesday
- German polls have uniform rules across all states, and automatic voter registration. Voting in Hamburg in a federal election is about the same in Bavaria.
- That also includes poll watchers. Each party can nominate one single representative per polling place to verify the count as it happens.
- To the best of my knowledge Germany still uses only paper ballots, and mail-in voting only really took off after the pandemic hit.
- I also follow the election results even if I can’t vote yet, and what I think plays a role is Germans don’t troll pollsters as much as Americans do.
- The US constitution is interesting in that it actually never mentions parties. All elections are supposed to be between candidates and not parties. George Washington wanted to abolish all parties. In fact, in the early days, the Vice President was supposed to be the runner-up in the electoral college, but after Johnson followed Lincoln people finally admitted it was a stupid idea.
I voted by mail, and since Iowa was my last residence before emigrating to Europe I have to vote there. So my vote for the Democrat feels wasted, alas.
