Feb 2

Feb 2 Register to Vote

This is a friendly PSA to all of the Americans out there, especially those living abroad, to register to vote. If you live overseas, it is necessary to register EVERY YEAR you want to vote. 2020 is a big election year, and many primary deadlines are rapidly approaching. In Texas - where I vote - to vote in the primaries, I need to be registered by February 3!

Fortunately, it is relatively simple to get the process started. I suggest the Vote from Abroad website as a good place to start. The Federal Voting Assistance Program is the “official” website, but I find it less user friendly than Vote from Abroad.

Registration and voting gets complicated because each state has its own set of rules and deadlines. In Texas, for example, I can email, fax, or mail, my registration, but the ballot needs to be mailed - and I need to mail it in enough time to account for how long mail can take to get from New Zealand to the US. Please double and triple check your deadlines so your vote counts!

There are two other resources that may be of use to you. Democrats Abroad is quite active in New Zealand. We attended a viewing party in 2018 to watch the midterm results, and it was a decent sized bunch. There is also a Democrats Abroad presidential primary, and candidates participate in live video with DA from time to time. The Republican equivalent is Republicans Overseas. I don’t know much about their offerings as the closest chapter appears to be in Australia, but I would assume that have similar virtual offerings.

No matter which way you lean, make sure you register, request your ballots, and vote. It is still important even though we don’t live in the US anymore. And maybe one day we can change the laws to resident based taxation and make all of our lives easier ;)