--- title: 7 Ideas from Other Countries That Could Improve U.S. Elections description: Americans are unhappy with this year's presidential election, with two historically disliked major candidates and concerns rising about election fraud and voter suppression. Is there... canonical: https://time.com/4556039/7-ideas-from-other-countries-that-could-improve-u-s-elections/ author: Kate Samuelson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-03T10:59:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T10:22:00.898Z article:section: Politics og:title: 7 Ideas from Other Countries That Could Improve U.S. Elections og:description: Americans are unhappy with this year's presidential election, with two historically disliked major candidates and concerns rising about election fraud and voter suppression. Is there... og:url: https://time.com/4556039/7-ideas-from-other-countries-that-could-improve-u-s-elections/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltae39cec1a4d2665c/6988acc10a4a22d3899cbe55/voting-canda-usa-election-2016-james-macdonald.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: voting-canda-usa-election-2016-james-macdonald og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 7 Ideas from Other Countries That Could Improve U.S. Elections twitter:description: Americans are unhappy with this year's presidential election, with two historically disliked major candidates and concerns rising about election fraud and voter suppression. Is there... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltae39cec1a4d2665c/6988acc10a4a22d3899cbe55/voting-canda-usa-election-2016-james-macdonald.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 7 Ideas from Other Countries That Could Improve U.S. Elections by [Kate Samuelson](https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Nov 3, 2016 10:59 AM UTC  Canadian voters had to endure only 78 days of campaigning last year Canadian voters had to endure only 78 days of campaigning last yearJames MacDonald—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Kate Samuelson](https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Nov 3, 2016 10:59 AM UTC Americans are unhappy with this year’s presidential election, with two historically disliked major candidates and concerns rising about election fraud and voter suppression. Is there a better way? Here, voting methods from around the world that the U.S. could consider for next election season: 1\. ELECTION-DAY REGISTRATION Registering to vote in the U.S. is confusing and inconsistent across states. Currently, only 13 allow same-day voter registration, but making that uniform across the U.S., as Canada does, could lead to a higher turnout. 2\. AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION Oregon became the first state to automatically enroll eligible citizens as voters last year. As a consequence, the monthly number of registrations in 2016 is three times what it was in 2012\. Auto-enrolling all voters, as France and Switzerland do, could make elections more accessible. 3\. SHORTER CAMPAIGN SEASONS Little wonder many Americans are sick of the candidates–this election will have lasted nearly 600 days by the time polls close on Nov. 8\. By comparison, Canada’s longest campaign season in recent history lasted 11 weeks. In Japan, campaigns last just 12 days. 4\. NONE OF THE ABOVE India and Greece, among other nations, have a “none of the above” option on ballots, allowing voters to indicate disapproval without sitting out the election. In the U.S., only the state of Nevada has this option. 5\. RANKED VOTING Australia and Ireland let voters rank their choices. This would allow Americans to vote for a third-party candidate, knowing their second choice might get the vote in later counts. 6\. MANDATORY VOTING More than 22 countries around the world, including Uruguay and Australia, have mandatory voting, in which eligible voters can be penalized if they do not cast their ballot. 7\. WEEKEND ELECTIONS Some argue that holding elections on the weekend, as Brazil, Greece and many other countries do, rather than on a Tuesday would make it easier for more Americans to visit their polling stations. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4556039/7-ideas-from-other-countries-that-could-improve-u-s-elections/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4556039/7-ideas-from-other-countries-that-could-improve-u-s-elections/"},"headline":"7 Ideas from Other Countries That Could Improve U.S. Elections","datePublished":"2016-11-03T10:59:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:22:00.898Z","description":"Americans are unhappy with this year's presidential election, with two historically disliked major candidates and concerns rising about election fraud and voter suppression. 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