I’m not American and do not vote in your elections. But I am a bit of a political junkie, my academic background is in history and political science and I’ve followed your politics for years. We have a different political system in Canada and we look at yours with some degree of skepticism although most of us would admit that ours is not perfect. But here’s what needs to be said.
Most advanced democracies don't have a problem with the physical act of voting. Most have a central agency which sets and enforces the rules, votes get cast and counted and elections finalized. Political parties are generally not in charge of elections, that’s for the agency that operates at arms length from the parties. In addition, complex issues such as redistricting (gerrymandering) are generally not in the hands of political parties but carried out independently from them. Most advanced democracies do everything possible to get people to vote and would be horrified by any efforts to suppress voting. This is generally how it is in most advanced democracies but it’s no secret that these standards and safeguards are not necessarily a consistent part of the US political system.
That’s all fine, you have your issues and God knows we all have problems. But then, along came this election, the train-wreck of the Republican primary, the horror story of the Trump candidacy culminating in the events of this weekend and the debate tonight. This is at a level of a third world country and I don’t have to go into the details because you know what they are.
So here’s the thing. Most people of good will don’t like to see this happening in the US and sincerely hope that you can fix it. Most Canadians I know are Obama fans and hate the sabotage that the Republicans have carried out. So do what you have to do but please, let’s hear no more talk about “America” being the “shining city on the hill”, the beacon of democracy, exceptional and all of that. Save it. We’ve heard it enough and have seen enough
Good luck to you. I think it’s fair to say that the majority of the world want to see you come out of this stronger. Maybe a little wiser too