Americans Vote in the Midterms Tomorrow; Perth Offers a Few Tips, Mainly About Pencils on Strings and Not Taking a Selfie in the Booth

By our Campaign Trail Correspondent

Americans go to the polls tomorrow in the midterm elections, with control of Congress at stake and candidates making a final dash for votes. More than 54 million people have already voted early.

Perth, which has a great deal of experience of elections, would like to offer some friendly advice.

“Number one, go early,” said a Letham woman who has voted in every election since 1966. “You get it done, and then you can spend the rest of the day telling everybody you’ve voted. That’s the best bit.”

A North Muirton man said Americans should be grateful for their voting machines. “Here, it’s a pencil on a string,” he said. “The string is always too short. You have to lean right over. I once put my cross so hard I went through the paper and marked the table. I don’t know who got that vote. Probably the table.”

A Craigie couple said they had watched American campaign adverts online and were amazed by how dramatic they were. “Over there, it’s music, flags, eagles,” said the husband. “Here it’s a leaflet with a photograph of a man standing beside a pothole, pointing at it.”

The Perthetic wishes all American voters well and reminds them of the single most important rule of voting day, as observed at every polling station in Perth: whatever you do, don’t say “I’ll just pop in after work”. That’s how you end up voting at 9.58pm in your slippers.

The real story: US midterms: surge in early voting (RTÉ)