US Elections vs German Elections

The US is in the throes of election season with the Midterm Election this Tuesday (Nov. 6th)! While I was unable to vote in Germany, I was fortunate enough to be there during their 2017 Bundestagswahl and I immediately noticed and learned some huge differences between US and German elections/campaigns/voting. I thought this would be the perfect time to make a video to discuss it with you guys!

Hi! I'm Kelly and I am an American who lived in Germany for 18 wonderful months. While I lived abroad before in Turkey and had done quite a bit of traveling beforehand, those 18 months in Germany definitely broadened my perspective of Germany, Europe, and even the US in so many different ways! I wanted to share my perceptions with you guys through YouTube so that maybe you can gain context to things you've heard about, or learn new information or a different perspective, or maybe this is everything you've heard before and further confirms your world view. No matter what the reason, I hope that you enjoy my videos! Don't forget to subscribe to my channel and turn on notifications so that you always know when I'm posting new content :)

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#elections #midterms #germany #bundestagswahl

[Kellydoesherthing]

Hey guys! Thanks for watching :) and please, please understand that if I were to explain every rule/circumstance involved with the German election process and every law in the US which varies so much state by state, the video would lose its true focus :) but by all means, feel free to go and read up about German and US elections if this has piqued your interest. Have a great week!

[Rakonax]

campaining in the us: "my opponent is a horible choice"
campaining in germany: "i am a good choice"

[kajalexander]

Actually there is a way to vote early in Germany. Since I was a volunteer at a pooling station, which wasn't my assigned one, I went to the town hall to vote ahead of time. There was a room and some voting cabins where I got all the letters do do it there. It's just like voting at a normal polling station but a few days early!

[stefanw]

I've seen different videos on this topic, but this was by far the best.
And I'm always impressed by your german pronounciation. Great job.

[gerdpapenburg]

Hi Kelly, interesting video, as usual, thanks for this. Let me make some "German" comments.
German polling stations are in generally located within 5 minutes walking distance in big cities and within 5 minutes driving distance in rural areas. My hometown has about 260 thousands inhabitants and we had more than 200 polling stations for the last elections. Polling stations are open from 8am to 6pm. You do not have to queue unless you vote just after church service ends. Germans can order to vote by mail and have the ballots to be sent to them for voting. This enables all persons who have to work, who are hospitalized, or who are on vacation to participate in the election. Alternately they can vote prior to the election day at the local "Wahllokal" which usually is the townhall of the city. When they vote there they have to turn in their "Wahlbenachrichtigung" (voter's notification) which prevents double votings. "I voted" stickers are completely unknown here.

[fbahr]

@10:05 Germany does have this "early voting thing". It's called "vorgezogene Urnenwahl" -- a variant of "vote-by-mail" where you don't actually apply for absentee voting, but simply just cast your ballot up to 4 weeks in advance. (About 50% of absentee votes in Germany are "vorgezogene Urnenwahlen".)

[holgerkla]

As a German jurist I would claim you have explained the German election system better than most Germans could... ^^
As for your question, I can only talk about voting in Berlin but you (usually) won't get a 'I voted sticker' here...

[CheefCoach]

In Serbia, during the elections, there are voting station inside the prisons. So prisoners can vote if the like it.
Few year ago UK wanted to ban voting rights for ex-convicts. One of them sue the UK in front of EU court, and won it. Taking away voting rights is against EU standards.

[ezghthrt]

When I saw the title (and the thumbnail) I expected yet another pointless argument fight in the comment section. Thankfully, you, your subscribers and your topics are too civilized!

[tpabstdd]

Hi Kelly, I can't say anything about your explanation about the US system, but for an American citizen you have a pretty detailed knowledge about the German election system. I'm really impressed by that. Thanks for your research work and the (nearly) correct and "fluffy" presentation. It's all right except the so-called "Überhangmandate", which blew the Bundestag up to over 700 politicians last year. But this detail is a matter of cost not a matter of democracy. So forget about that. One interesting Detail about the Bundespräsident: His most important Job to do is to sign all the new laws. Of course, it's not often the case that the President declines a new law, but he could. That is his true might.

[xcofcd]

As a German I've seriously tried to understand your US elections and every time i thought I got it something new pops up. It's the same with American Football 😁

[charlotteice]

It's not only annoying that election season in the US never ends. It's bad for politics toobecause most of the time, decisions are influenced by anelection and not the people's will.

[Hans-gbmv]

Well, if the US wants to combat low voter turnout, don't hold elections on a Tuesday. Times have changed, so should elections. And no, online voting is the worst solution you can come up with (I know many people would offer that as alternative)

[Digrient]

Another big difference: Germany uses practically no voting machines of any kind, only paper and pen and manual counting. They experimented with machines in the 2000s, but too many doubts and questions remained, and the German Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court) installed very strict limitations.

[WIMPERNSCHLAG-]

all in one take, ..that was awsome ! Well done !! Best from Germany !! :-)

[ravenpoe]

I listened and watched and to be honest, you explained it correctly, good work :). Of course there are more things in our votings (yes, I'm German :D), but you covered the most of the voting system and the most important parts of it with that video explanation. Good work, with that the americans knows more now :) *thumbs up*

[marcexner]

The US are in dire need to reform their voting system! But of course the people in power will do everything to keep things like they are.
BTW you didn't even touch the topic of voting machines which are unheard of in Germany. We use good old pens and paper and refuse to rely on a piece of technology that can easily be manipulated.

[Digrient]

As long as there's political "business as usual", the President of the Federal Republic of Germany is largely a ceremonial position. (The head of government is the Chancellor.) But the President becomes _the_ most important figure in any constitutional crisis, like when a government tries to get anti-constitutional legislation through the Bundestag. Thankfully, we hadn't too many of those crises yet since 1948, but that doesn't necessarily need to stay that way forever. Many Germans underestimate the importance of that position -- may they never need to learn the hard way.

[svenweihusen]

Really like that you even tackle this "boring" but important topic. Great job.

[petrameyer]

Let's face it the US system is just not up to date!
In the US the losing parties votes in a state will be basically discarded. While the entire state then is counted as either Democrat or Republican. This is not really democratic and allows for the election of a person that did not have the majority of votes. That made sense during the Wild West to ensure that a state was able to hold some type of voting, even if some or even many people were unable to vote due to distance weather whatever.
Also, US PAC and SUPER PACs which allow companies and unknown donators to funnel huge amounts of money into a vote do not exist here.


Today the US is a Plutocracy, a system ruled and dominated by the wealthy and rich. This has become VERY obvious with Trump in my opinion. The idea that the normal and poor will gain also wealth and a better life by giving the rich even more money through tax cuts, for example, is.... (let's stay civil).