Question for Americans

[pyat]

Why are voting lines in the U.S. so long? I'm reading about six hour waits in some early voting places, and I seem to recall tales of "lines around the block" in the last election. Are there only a small number of voting stations?

I've never heard anyone up here complain about waiting in line to vote - or, if they did it was a matter of "It took me 15 minutes to get to the polling station! What a mad house!" sort of thing.

Do we do things differently, or is this just a matter of freak incidents getting media attention?

Comments

[kianir.livejournal.com]

Long voting lines happen in places that are heavily populated and poorly served by government. And often, just .. poor. Poor people vote against the establishment. Those typically in charge of handling elections are pro-establishment. Poor people can't bleed wages for a whole day to stand in line and vote.

Paraphrasing my favorite terrorists' words, it doesn't take a weatherman to tell which way that wind's blowing.