How easy is it to vote in the US?

[LotC]

So say you're like me and never seem to be registered for civic, provincial, or federal elections. I move around fairly frequently and being lazy I always register on voting day. Here's how it usually goes:

I walk into the polling place with my passport and a utility bill with my current address on it, go to the registration lineup, wait my turn, give them my ID and either get a ballot or a registration slip that I take to the polling clerk who then gives me a ballot.

If I only had one piece of ID I would be able to swear an oath saying I am who I say I am. If I had actually been registered and received a voter card in the mail I wouldn't have to show ID at all (this has changed under Herr Harper federally to the dismay of many; you have to show two pieces of ID regardless).

So how easy is it comparatively to vote in your neck of the woods America?

[onodera]

I'm a non-USian, so I'll tell you about Russian elections.
I walk into the polling place (local school for us) with my passport, wait my turn, the clerk verifies my ID and finds my name in the voting list. I sign the list and get the ballot.
If you are registered in Irkutsk, but live in Moscow, you are screwed. No voting for you.

[Darius871]

My I.D. = Benjamins

[Proteus_MST]

I´m a not USAian,
but AFAIK it is easy with Diebold Voting machines.
You just have to touch the touchscreen on oen of the candidates
and it is automatically registered as vote for the republican candidate

[SlowwHand]

It's easy. Anyone saying that it's not, probably shouldn't be voting.

[Deity Dude]

In Michigan, if you show up with no ID and are not on the registration list, all you have to do is take an oath and you are given a provisional ballot. If the margin of victory is less than the total of all provisional ballots they are then examined by representatives of both parties.

That only comes up if you are so lame that you have no ID and are not registered. Registration is extremely easy. If you get a driver's license you are registered. If you own a house you are registered. If you have a state issued ID card (which is given to you if you don't have a license or it was taken away from you) you are registered.

In my opinion it is much to easy to vote. In one election (2000 presidential) certain precincts in Detroit had over 95% turnout and a couple had over 100%.

I don't know what you think, but I know for a fact that you couldn't get 95% of Detroiters to show up even if they were offering free money let alone to stand in line and vote.

[Japher]

Many states have registration deadlines, so if you are lazy you probably won't get a vote.

I vote by mail-in/absentee. It's really easy. I let my daughter color on it then I mail it in.

[Boris Godunov]

Depends on the state. Some states have adopted same-day registration and voting. Most, however, have deadlines several weeks before an election for registering. Here in Oregon, the deadline was Oct. 14. But that's because Oregon has a mail-in election. Everyone had to receive ballots in the mail by Oct. 17. The actual voting in Oregon is as easy as filling out the form and mailing it, or dropping it off at a collection site by 8:00 PM on Election Day.

Many problems can afflict in-person polling places here in the U.S., especially a low machine-to-voter ratio which can cause huge waiting times. In 2004, many urban minority areas in Ohio had this problem, and a lot of people who wanted to vote couldn't because the wait times were upwards of 6 hours.