Explaining the electoral system

LeVine has been US Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein since 2013 swissinfo.ch

US Ambassador Suzi LeVine says the crowd that has turned out to watch election returns in the wee hours of the morning in Bern has “far exceeded expectations”. The crowd, she says, is made up of students, teachers, business leaders and entrepreneurs from around Switzerland.

Over the course of the last several months, LeVine has had the role of explaining the US election system to the Swiss.  

“Especially here in Switzerland there are some key differences between the Swiss parliamentary elections and the US election system,” she says. “I’ve been focusing on explaining how people vote more or less directly for the president of the United States, and how our electoral system makes it a state-by-state election.”

“How a president gets elected in the United States is the result of incredible volunteer power, people knocking on doors and making phone calls.” Those grassroots efforts, she says, are another aspect she often finds herself explaining in Switzerland.

Here’s more on how the US and Swiss voting systems compare: