As a European, the whole registering to vote thing is honestly one of the wildest parts of the US elections to me. It’s so unnecessary complicated and prone to errors/manipulation. I just have to show up with my ID, doesn’t matter if it’s for the EU parliament or the local city senate.

I see comments like this a lot. Most important and apparently most difficult for Europeans (and others but it’s almost always Europeans) to understand is that the US is a very large country, made up of 50 semi-independent states, each with its own government and laws-- about many things, not just elections. So that’s why things are more complex here–we’re not a small monolithic nation with one single, centralized government and set of laws that apply to everyone no matter where in the country they live.

Each US State runs its own elections; a person obviously can’t be allowed to vote in more than one state. Since people can move from one state to another at any time, and even have residences in more than one state at the same time (such as college students and well-off people), it’s necessary to register with the state you will be voting in, so that you are officially able to vote in that state and no other.

update response to the replies: Funny, the replies to this post comparing the situation to that of their country with the EU is basically the relationship I was trying to explain, yet they think they have somehow refuted what I said, when actually they validated what I said. Here’s what’s really “wild”: First you call our system stupid, then when I explain our system to you, you say, “But that’s just like our system!” and then downvote me for making you realize that what you called stupid is what you also have. 😄

Read the original comment condescendingly asking “Why do you have to register to vote?” yet they are also registered to vote in their own country, but don’t even realize it because it was done automatically for them as a citizen. Your government has to track who is eligible to vote[1] and therefore in EU elections as well, one way or another, even if you don’t use the word “registered” for it.

BTW, Many US States also automatically register their residents to vote (though a person can optionally refuse that); other US states expect you to register for it yourself (perhaps some European countries too?). Each state makes its own laws about that. Once registered in a state, we can also vote in our Federal elections, just like you can vote in EU elections.

[1] Example: Germany voter eligibility:

Generally, to be allowed to vote in Germany, you need to be a German citizen who is at least 18 years old. You must also have been officially registered in the place where you’re voting, such as Berlin, for at least three months, and you must not be excluded from voting for other reasons (for example, if a court took away your right to vote because you were deemed legally incapable of making your own decisions).

I’d rather have a linux OS on the phone that can run Android apps.

OK I was with him for the first 4 minutes about why Windows is unusable, but this was so irritating to watch. Hyperactive videos like this drive me nuts, someone talking loud and fast and editing so there is not even a millisecond gap between sentences. But the audio aspect still isn’t hyper enough for this guy, no! the video has to be the same way, showing just his hands, gesticulating wildly the whole time. UGH.

So anyway, once I got to where he finally gets to the subject of Linux and immediately launches into the typical bullshit where he says to use Linux, you have to use the terminal and know how to write scripts, I quit watching. Most of these “I tried Linux!” videos are like this. I only clicked on it because the title said he actually switched to Linux.

Minutes are the smaller time division with 60 possible values so that hand is longer to reach to the tick marks for easier reading of the exact minute.

The hour hand only needs to distinguish between 12 possible values that are more spread out around the perimeter, so it doesn’t need to reach very far to tell which hour out of 12 it is.

OK let’s have a lesson for those who find this difficult. First, remember that little kids pick this up quickly and easily, so you can too!

We all know there are 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, and 24 hours in a day, right? and that the day is divided into the a.m. of 12 hours and the p.m. of 12 hours.

So analog clocks show those 12 hours as the numbers 1-12 evenly spaced around the clock face. Now look a little closer and you see it’s also divided into 60 marks with a tick mark for each of the 60 seconds/minute or 60 minutes/hour. Hang on, we’re almost there!

The little hand points to the HOUR number (1-12). If it’s in between two numbers, that means the time is in between those two hours.

The big hand points to the MINUTE tick mark. Notice that the 1-12 numbers coincide with each 5th tick mark so it’s easy to count them. Just count by 5’s! So if the big hand is between the 3 and the 4, that means the minute of the hour is between 15 and 20, look at which tick mark for the exact minute.

Now, can you figure out how the second hand works? Good! Kindergarten dismissed!

/s

Nope, it still seems like most of the ones I see are analog, as in my library example. Probably most people ignore them and just check their phones for the time since they are constantly looking at them anyway.

Digital vs. analog watches that run on batteries are no more or less accurate because of how the time is displayed. I have a digital clock display on my battery-powered cordless phone (yes I also have a landline) that is constantly plugged into a power source and it loses a minute or two every day. Your computer and phone only keep displaying the correct time because they frequently update themselves from an online source.

Anyone who wants to understand how to read an analog clock can learn it in two minutes, it’s not like you need to be taught in school. edit to add: My brother recently told me that he was at the library and his friend’s teenage daughter looked at the analog clock and said indignantly “I can’t read that!” So apparently it is true that people aren’t learning simple skills like this.