Melanie StefanFeb 12, 2023
US friends, take note. I went to vote in Berlin today and this was the line in front of the polling station. “But wait! There is no line!” Indeed. There is no line because there need not be one. Because it’s about how polling is organised. If you are standing in a line for hours in order to exercise your democratic rights, it’s because someone wants you to.#polling #democracy #righttovote
Show threadMordkoFeb 12, 2023
@melanieistefan this is Berlin too. Come on. Be better. Why spread obvious nonsense?
Show threadMelanie StefanFeb 12, 2023
@Mordko That’s a lot of people in T-Shirts for a rainy February day.
Show threadMordkoFeb 12, 2023
@melanieistefan its November 2022 elections in Berlin. The point is that lineups happen everywhere and its not a conspiracy
Show threadUlrik Nyman ⬡Feb 14, 2023
@Mordko @melanieistefan
But as far as I understand it was news that there were these queues at a German election. Thus, they are used to elections without queues. The USA seems to be one of the only places where long queues is routinely used to deter voters from voting in certian areas.
Show threadMordkoFeb 14, 2023
@UlrikNyman @melanieistefan last but not least, in Germany the electorate has been shrinking. Makes it easy to plan for. https://www.dw.com/en/german-election-demographics-facts-and-figures/a-59143207. Germany is a gerontocracy. In the US 20 million more turned up to vote in 2020 than in 2016 and most of the increase was young and poorer neighborhoods. Harder to predict and plan for.
German election demographics

Germany's electorate is aging and shrinking. What will that mean for the German parliament in the post-Merkel era?

Deutsche Welle
Show threadUlrik Nyman ⬡Feb 14, 2023

@Mordko @melanieistefan You plan for everybody voting.

Denmark: 1.383 polling place (2021), population (2020): 5,882,261. People pr. polling place: 4253.
USA: 230,000 polling place (2018), population (2022): 333,287,557. People pr. polling place: 1449.

I expected this to show the opposite relationship. This just makes it even more weird that the USA gets such long queues at some polling locations.

Maybe it is the use of election machines that makes for less booths per polling place?

Show threadMordkoFeb 14, 2023
@UlrikNyman @melanieistefan Denmark is a tiny Kingdom with high taxes, relying on US for defence like we all do. Very expensive place with no growth. Not everyone is or wants to be like that. If you want to come to the US and sort them out, I am certain your advice would be valued. Although it looks like you also have a conspiracy to make people wait https://uniavisen.dk/en/right-now-danish-voters-queue-up-for-election/
Right now: Danish voters queue up for election

The polls are now open in the Danish general election. Latest polls predict a tight race between the opposition red bloc and the blue bloc, including the present governing parties

University Post
Show threadUlrik Nyman ⬡Feb 15, 2023
@Mordko @melanieistefan This is a line of 9 people inside a building from a news story in 2011. The focus is on the election being a thing and not on the problem of queues.
Show threadUlrik Nyman ⬡
@Mordko @melanieistefan I have voted in every danish election since 1998 and I have followed danish news for at least as long. There is not a problem with election queues in Denmark.
Feb 15, 2023 at 3:04pmWeb
Show threadMordkoFeb 15, 2023
@UlrikNyman @melanieistefan there isn’t a problem for the vast majority of Americans or Canadians either. Anecdote is not data. Not every problem is a conspiracy
Show threadUlrik Nyman ⬡Feb 16, 2023

@Mordko @melanieistefan

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2020/03/05/no-one-should-wait-six-hours-to-vote-but-in-texas-thousands-did-on-super-tuesday/

`No one should wait six hours to vote,' but in Texas, thousands did on Super Tuesday

Joe Biden had an exceedingly Super Tuesday in Texas. But for thousands of Texas voters, primary night was a nightmare. Many waited four hours. A thousand or...

The Dallas Morning News
Show threadMordkoFeb 16, 2023
@UlrikNyman @melanieistefan I am confident Democratic Party would benefit frim your experience in organizing Primaries. Good luck.