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   Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Monday, 28-Apr-2025 23:42:09 JST Evan Prodromou

   I voted early, in person, in the Canadian federal election last Monday. In Canada, we don't typically stack local, provincial and federal elections; they happen on separate days. We also only rarely have referenda or other direct democracy votes.

   Consequently, I went into the booth and had one choice, the person I wanted to be my member of Parliament for the next session. It took about 30 seconds for me to check that I had the right selection, put my X, and drop it in the ballot box.

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Monday, 28-Apr-2025 23:44:46 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     I'd contrast my experience with voting in the 2024 US federal election. (As an overseas US citizen, I vote in Canada and the US.) The ballot had local, state and federal elections on different pages; there are dozens of roles, such as judge or community college board member, that are directly elected; and there are usually 10-20 referenda to vote on each election. I counted 81 choices I had to make on the last San Francisco ballot I filled out.

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Monday, 28-Apr-2025 23:45:51 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     For my daughter, who was voting for the first time, it was overwhelming. We did a lot of research on each of the elections, but it felt like a lot of cognitive load.

     Checking just one box, and being done with it, feels a lot simpler and more straightforward.

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     M. Grégoire (mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca)'s status on Monday, 28-Apr-2025 23:56:21 JST M. Grégoire

     in reply to

     @evan We're fortunate to have a parliamentary system of government in Canada.