Washington ( CNN ) -- When the polls close in most other democracies , the results are known almost instantly . Ballots are usually counted accurately and rapidly , and nobody disputes the result . Complaints of voter fraud are rare ; complaints of voter suppression are rarer still . The kind of battle we are seeing in Florida -- where Democrats and Republicans will go to court over whether early voting should span 14 days or eight -- simply does not happen in Germany , Canada , Britain or France . The ballot uncertainty that convulsed the nation after Florida 's vote in 2000 could not happen in Mexico or Brazil . Almost everywhere else , elections are run by impartial voting agencies . In France , elections are the responsibility of the Ministry of the Interior , which establishes places and hours of voting , prints ballots ( France still uses paper ) and counts the votes . In Germany , an independent federal returning officer oversees a complex state and federal voting system . Share your reaction to the election results . In Canada , federal elections are managed by a specialized agency , Elections Canada . Mexico , emerging from a sad history of electoral manipulation , created in the 1990s a respected independent agency , the Federal Electoral Institute . Brazil has nationwide electronic voting , producing instantaneous , uncontested results . President Barack Obama : My vision for America . No voting system is perfect . Britain has faced allegations of chronic fraud in absentee balloting . As I write , Lithuanian politics are convulsed by allegations of vote buying by one of its political parties . But here 's what does n't happen in other democracies : . Politicians of one party do not set voting schedules to favor their side and harm the other . Politicians do not move around voting places to gain advantages for themselves or to disadvantage their opponents . In fact , in almost no other country do politicians have any say in the administration of elections at all . Here 's a story from the 2000 election . Like many old cities , St. Louis has not invested in modern voting equipment . Voting delays are notorious . At the scheduled poll-closing time , voters were still lined up throughout the city . Al Gore 's campaign , desperate to win the state , asked a judge to extend voting for three more hours in the heavily Democratic city -- but only in the city . A state judge agreed . Republicans appealed , the state judge was overruled , and the polls were closed after remaining open a total of 45 additional minutes beyond the legal closing time . Republicans won Missouri 's 11 electoral votes by a margin of 78,786 out of the almost 2.4 million cast . Think about what 's incredible here : . Lines were lengthy in St. Louis City because in the United States , almost uniquely , local governments choose how voting is cast and counted . People who live in localities with less capable governments , such as St. Louis , will face greater delay and difficulty in casting their vote . Mitt Romney : My vision for America . When local Democratic officials saw themselves disadvantaged by the existing rules , they appealed to a judge for special treatment for its ( likely ) voters -- and only for those voters . ( Good news : In Missouri , circuit judges are appointed by the governor and then confirmed in office by nonpartisan vote . In many states , however , judges are themselves elected in partisan elections . ) The other party demanded that the existing rules be upheld , and the case was litigated on the fly , ending in a weird compromise that only failed to become a national scandal because the events in Florida were so much more dramatic . In any other democracy , voters nationwide would have cast their votes on the same kind of balloting equipment , subject to the same rules . Your take : Should we have polling places in churches ? The parties would have had a minimal role in supervising the election , and certainly would not have been allowed to ask for rule changes as the vote occurred . The voting would have been overseen by a national election commission , not by local judges , who might be nonpartisan -- but who very well might not . Change the list : You convinced them to vote . Americans worry more about voter fraud than do voters in other countries , because they are the only country without a reliable system of national identification . In no other country , including federal systems such as Germany , Canada and Australia , does the citizen 's opportunity to vote depend on the affluence and competence of his or her local government . In every other democracy , the vote is the means by which the people choose between the competing political parties -- not one more weapon by which the parties compete . The United States is an exceptional nation , but it is not always exceptional for good . The American voting system too is an exception : It is the most error-prone , the most susceptible to fraud , the most vulnerable to unfairness and one of the least technologically sophisticated on earth . After the 2000 fiasco , Americans resolved to do better . Is n't it past time to make good on that resolution ? Opinion : On Election Day , pause to soak it in . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of David Frum .
David Frum : Tuesday 's vote is subject to all manner of disputes between parties . He says U.S. voting system is locally controlled , gives too much power to politicians . Other democracies establish national standards and enforce them equally , he says . Frum : The United States has a long history of electing presidents by popular election.