I have a lot of sympathy for Americans at election time. They have to vote for a hell of a lot of things all at once, while we lucky ducks of the Westminster tradition vote for one thing at a time.

A Canadian or British ballot in a national election is a piece of paper about six inches square, with four to six (or so, depending on how many crank parties are active) candidates’ names on it, family name first in alphabetical order, each with a clearly marked spot into which to put one’s X. Nothing else, and no write-ins. In case one is unclear on the concept of marking the ballot, there’s a handy-dandy graphic on the inside of the screen to show how it’s done.

An American ballot can be enormous, with candidates running for offices ranging from president to dog-catcher, many of them jobs that are done by civil servants in Canada or the UK. If that weren’t confusing enough, the ballot may also include referendum questions that the voter must parse on the spot. In our tradition, referenda and plebiscites are held separately.

And then there’s the whole voting machine thing. In Canada, the closest thing to a voting machine is a pencil on a string.

So, weird as it is, the Electoral College isn’t the wonkiest thing in US politics.

It’s worth noting that the British political system — and, with it, those of the Empire — was substantially over-hauled at least three times between the Great Reform Act of 1832 and the Statute of Westminster of 1931. The American system was based on a much clunkier European model, and has had less revision.

So be kind.