A limited number of places are designated as early polling places for any electorate in NZ. They are open for 2 weeks before the election day.
You may cast your vote at any polling place on election day. If it’s not in your electorate, then you ask for a special vote ballot paper and the elections staff look up your electorate to see who they have to list on the ballot. As some electorates may have 20 or more candidates, that must be a bit of a drag.
Elections are always held on a Saturday, and polling stations are open from 9 till 7. I’ve never had to queue more than a couple of minutes, just for the elections staff to issue voting papers to someone ahead of me.
Each electorate has about 45000 registered electors, so obviously very much smaller than in the US, and that’s probably why we are able to vote at any polling station rather than having one assigned to us.
Generally speaking, your employer must let you have time to vote if you are working on election day, up to 2hours, and it is paid time.
In Spain there is no “early voting at the ballot place”: it’s absentee voting, by mail. If voting from Spain it’s certified mail and it’s free; if voting from outside you need to send it by certified mail and send also the documents to get reimbursed for it (via post order).
Our elections always take place on Sundays, but anybody who has to work on Sunday is supposed to get time off for it (most people opt to vote during their off hours or to vote by mail - if they vote). Also, if you get picked to be in a table*, your employee must make “necessary arrangements” which may involve things like letting you go early/not work the night before if you work nights (it still counts as if you’ve worked the full shift for salary, absenteeism and social security tax purposes).
ID is required: it can be your Spanish national ID, passport from a country whose nationals can vote in Spain (EU citizens can vote and run in local and regional elections, we’ve had several foreign mayors) or a Spanish driver’s license (these indicate the bearer’s nationality).
Each table is manned by a President, First Secretary and Second Secretary. There is also usually a few Observers from political parties, but since these are allowed by law and not required by law, they are there on their own time and dime.
IANAL, but I’ve always heard it was the law for employers to allow employees time to vote in the US. They can’t just schedule you to work, say, the whole poll-opening hours to keep you from voting.
This double envelope system is also employed in Germany. But instead of IDing yourself, you sign a declaration under penalty of perjury that you are actually the voter you say you are. This declaration is put in the outer envelope.
(There is some room for manipulation, and I’m afraid this occurs more regularly than one might hope and expect, especially in some sections of the population).
In Norway everyone in the national register of residents eligible to vote in the election in question receive a voter card by mail a few weeks before election, with name, address and information about their polling place. When voting early you show up to an early voting station and present the card and your id. Your ballot is placed in an envelope and that envelope and your voter card is placed in a larger envelope which is then put in a ballot box.
No early polling stations in the UK, but you can apply for a postal vote – you don’t need a reason to do this. Postal voting forms are sent out - on request only - a week or so before polling day.
You can also vote by proxy - giving someone else permission to vote on your behalf, eg if you are ill. You have to apply for this as well.
If you vote in person, you must go to a prescribed polling station. Polling is always on a Thursday, for some reason, with polling stations open 7am-10pm. No time off though. You receive a polling card a week or two before polling day, telling you where to vote, and you just turn up, giving the polling officers your name and address, and they cross you off a list. Very hi-tech. No ID required, not even your polling card.
In Ireland AFAIK there is no early voting or absentee voting (with the exception of some offshore islands and military posted overseas). You turn up at your local polling station on polling day and you make your mark. Irish citizens living overseas cannot vote.
Like many things in the US, it depends on the state.
Here in Minnesota, state law requires that employees be given time off to vote (no hours specified), without loss of pay. But employers may request advance notice from employees, and may ask employees to coordinate with each other so the workplace is not left unstaffed. Though that only a request by the employer, employees don’t have to comply.
In practice, this isn’t used much – polls are open for about 14 hours, so most people can vote before or after work. (But it’s been used as an excuse for being late on Election Day – just say there was a line at the polling place.)
Question: Why doesn’t everybody hold their elections on a Sunday? That’s the day of the week when a considerable part of the electorate doesn’t have to go to work.
For Canada, regular election dates are usually Mondays, with (IIRC) the advance polls usually on the Saturday & Sunday of the previous week, and Friday & Saturday in the week before that.
Canada also simplifies voter registration. If you certify you are a Canadian citizen, and tick the box authorizing Revenue Canada to do so, your name and current address are forwarded to Elections Canada to keep the voter registration list up to date. (You can also register at the poll when you go to vote, or register directly with Elections Canada by mail.) You will get a voter registration card a couple of weeks before the election with info on advance poll and regular poll dates, times, and locations. Presenting this card at the poll isn’t a requirement, but does speed the process up.
One more possibility for Canadians - if you are in hospital or a long-term care facility, the polling station comes to you. At least for me (in Edmonton, Alberta) the same has applied for provincial and municipal elections that I have been laid up during.
