I'm curious how the election process changes between the countries… How do you register to vote, where do you vote, how long does it take to get results etc.
I'll share mine (Spain).
Electoral census/voters register
You are assigned a polling station based on your registered address. This process is automatic, I moved my address and on the next elections I was assigned a new voting place.
A few weeks before the election, you recive a card by mail telling you where to vote.
You can also chose to vote by mail. But you have to request and vote before the election, mail votes are brought to each polling station and counted as if were casted in person. If you chose to vote by mail you are not allowed to vote in person, even if you did not cast the vote.
polling stations
Are usually in public schools (tipically election day is a Sunday, although this in not a legal requirement), or city council buildings. Unless you are living in a rural area, your assigned polling station will be within walking distance.
Pooling stations are "maned" by three people (president, plus two deputies), these are ordinary citizens choosen randomly. This is a civic duty, like being selected for a jury. Not showing up can reaultnin fines (although I'm not sure if they are enforced). Government officers will supervise the process and political parties send observers.
voting
You go to the polling station, show and id and cast your vote. The ballot must be in a sealed envelope. You may bring it from home or use the ones at the station, there will be a boot so you can choose ballot discretely.
The people are the station have a list of who is assigned to vote, they will check your id, that you are on the list, cross your name and then let you vote. If you chose to vote by mail, you will be on a different list.
Voting is done with a paper ballot, no voting machines.
The votes by mail are received during the day and validated at the end.
counting
It is done by the president and deputies with the observers from the parties. It is a totally manual process. At the end, an act is written and signed with several copies: for the electoral office, the observers etc.
The president takes all the paperwork (results, who was at the polling station, incidents etc) and brings them to a court, sorted by a police officer
results
As the counting is done on the same day, the results are quite fast. Results at received at the court, added up and communicated upwards. In a couple of hours after the end of the voting votes are 80% counted and by midnight the process is almost done.
The government publishes and updates results live as they are counted.
Of course the official results take a bit longer, disputed votes and incidents have to be ruled, votes from foreign countries (you can vote at envasies or consulates) take more time to be received… But that usually has little to no impact on the results.
What I like about the process is that it is quite safe and transparent. Third parties can have a copy of the results on each polling station, and witness the process. So they can do a parallel recount that should match the official data.
Also, I think that papel voting, obsolete as it may look is way safer than electronic.
The downsize of the process is that the manual recount is prone to human mistake…