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Sometimes even local stuff. U.S. states, our provincial government level, have processes in place to account for Americans living abroad to vote in state and local elections. It’s guaranteed by law, I think. Our states handle all voting on behalf of the federal government anyway (registration, voting day operations, counts, all often under the misleadingly named office of a Secretary of State), so it’s a natural consequence of our structure. It is nice to live abroad as if you were still at your last physical address for voting purposes, though, and usually not notice a big difference. I think it’s implied that those of us who have done it intend to come back, in the system’s thinking, but I think everyone understands the relevance of their vote according to their situation and beliefs.

We’re of course all too familiar with this process from several consequential court cases deliberating its efficacy and merit in generational memory. Whether it’s sensible has been argued with elections on the line.




A shocking thing for me is that if you're an American living abroad registered to vote in California you're allowed to vote by email (well technically fax, but there's a DoD email alias you can send your scanned ballot PDF to and someone will print it out and fax it, which counts). Oh, and if you vote any ballot this way other than a write-in for federal offices you might also get a residency audit and have to pay California's personal income tax (which doesn't recognize any US tax treaties). You're not allowed to vote by fax or email if you don't have a non-US address.


In SC, you vote in a web app if you live out of the country.




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