Coming after the reasonably straightforward New Zealand election in October, many Kiwis were left perplexed by the United States' election system in November.
The Americans don't just elect the candidate with the most votes, instead, they use what is called the 'electoral college' system. In early December, it confirmed Democrat Joe Biden as President, but as many try to wrap their heads around how it worked, it's not the only confusing election system in the world.
While Donald Trump didn't need to have any political experience to run for US President, in one European country, candidates need over 500 endorsements to compete.
In other countries, presidential candidates need to be from a specific religion, and in one country there's only one presidential option.
Here's some of the world's most bizarre election systems:
North Korea
Believe it or not, North Korea does hold elections where residents decide whether to re-elect Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un - but it does come with a catch.
Everyone in North Korea is expected to vote unless they are ill, with voter turnout at 99.97 percent in 2014.
North Korean elections are considered a time of celebration and reaffirm support for Kim Jong-un Supreme People's Assembly (SPA).
"As a sign of loyalty you're expected to turn up early, that means there'll likely be long queues," North Korea analyst Fyodor Tertitskiy told BBC News.
The catch is, when residents receive a ballot, there’s only one name on it - Kim Jong-un. There are no boxes to tick and nothing to fill in, everyone just drops their ballot into the collection box.
North Koreans do have the right to cross out the name of the candidate, Tertitskiy told BBC, but doing so would almost certainly mean the secret police would go after them and they would be declared insane.
Defector Mina Yoon told the Telegraph that the elections are also the time when the government finds out about those who have fled the country, the Atlantic reported.
"The government checks the list of voters and if your name is not on the list, they will investigate it", she said.
Yoon said that some defectors in China return to North Korea at election time to register and vote so the government doesn't come after their families.
Lebanon
Lebanon's government has a unique power-sharing divide between different religious groups which has been around since the 1940s.
The number of seats in the country's Parliament is split between Christians and Muslims and those in high-ranking positions such as the Prime Minister and President are ethnically pre-assigned.
The system dates back to a political agreement among Lebanese Muslims and Christians in 1943 and was reaffirmed by the Taif Agreement in the 1980s, according to the Lebanon 2017 International Religious Freedom Report.
The country's parliament is required to remain half Christian and half Muslim while the Prime Minister must be a Sunni Muslim, the President must be Maronite Christian and the parliamentary speaker a Shiite Muslim, Foreign Policy reported.
However, there has been no change to the rules despite the demographics shifting in the country.
The freedom report estimates that, as of 2017, 57.7 percent of the citizen population is Muslim, while 36.2 percent of the population is Christian.
France
In France potential presidential candidates need to secure endorsements from hundreds of mayors before they are allowed to run for office.
The system was introduced in 1962 by former French president Charles De Gaulle as a way to eliminate fringe bids, AP reported.
Originally only 100 endorsements were required but the large numbers of candidates in the 1965, 1969 and 1974 elections led to them increasing the number needed to 500.
The system leaves obvious risk for potential horse-trading, corruption and coercion as candidates attempt to get each mayor's vote, Foreign Policy reported, and many people find it problematic.
“This law is undemocratic. It could prevent the only working-class candidate from bidding for president,” far-left candidate Phillipe Poutou told AP in 2012.
He claimed the system is rigged because it favours political machines which can apply pressure on mayors to vote a specific way.
The mayor's votes are also now made public, which Poutou said makes many of them more reluctant to back candidates with small numbers of endorsements.
“Given the strong pressure on us, they think: ’Why should we take the risk of supporting someone who is not even guaranteed to qualify?” Poutou said.
The system made issues for far-right candidate Marine Le Pen who - despite polling at 20 percent in public support for in the 2012 election - struggled to fulfil the endorsement requirements.
Gambia
In response to high levels of illiteracy, voters in West African country Gambia have previously cast their votes with marbles rather than ballots.
Election officials first verify each voter's identity, then give out voter marble each which they place into a drum assigned to their prefered candidate.
For easy identification, the drums are painted with different colours and are adorned with pictures of the candidates.
When voters drop their marble into their candidate's drum it sets off a bell in order to stop people from smuggling in more marbles and attempting to vote multiple times.
After the voting has ended, the drums are emptied and marbles are placed into special trays with 200 or 500 holes that small holes each marble fits into, which enables officials to quickly count the number of votes cast in each drum.
"This system has been in the country for several decades, dating back to the early 1960s," journalist Umaru Fofana reported for BBC news.
"The commission like every other Gambian here believes that this system works very well [because] - one- it's cost-effective - and two - they feel like you don't have to know rocket science to cast your ballots here."
He said in 2012 there were only two invalid votes cast throughout the country when voters placed their marbles on top of the drums.
"Our electoral commission is second to none," Gambia's independent electoral commission chairman Alieu Momarr Njai said before the 2016 election, CNN reported. "No one can rig it."
However the system may be overhauled in favour of ballots for future elections.
