Voters abroad still have time to cast ballot in U.S. presidential election

With the U.S. presidential election only four days away, the final push is on to get Americans living in Canada and dual-citizens to cast their ballots.

There were about 620,000 Americans living in Canada eligible to vote in the 2016 election, but Rachel Eugster, co-chair of the Democrats Abroad Ottawa chapter, says that number is likely closer to one million.

Those eligible to vote include Americans living in Canada, or Canadians whose parents were born in the U.S.

Getting the vote out in Canada hasn’t been easy, though. During the election four years ago, about 32,000 of voters living in Canada cast absentee ballots.

Eugster says she believes that will change this year, at least for Democrats based in Canada.

Pageviews to the Democrats Abroad voting information page, votefromabroad.org, have skyrocketed, she says, as interest piques for the election that has so much riding on it.

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“So there’s absolutely a huge upsurge and we’re seeing signs of it all around us,” Eugster says, adding since January, Democrats Abroad membership has increased by about 30 per cent.

Eugster stresses it’s not too late for eligible voters to cast their ballots.

“There is still time to vote in most states. If you haven’t registered and requested your ballot, in most states, you can still do that through votefromabroad.org,” she explains. “If your state will not accept your ballot by email, it will accept it by courier.”

Each state has different laws on how to cast a ballot, so the votefromabroad site helps guide voters through the process.

“Your state may require you to return your ballot by mail, or it may allow you to return your ballot by email,” she says, adding deadlines vary.

“It’s a whole patchwork,” she says.

“So do it, don’t wait. Vote now, vote today.”