Looks like it'll be a Romney - Obama election. Pretty interesting.

Ron Paul is second, but I don't know if he can catch up enough to knock Romney out. We'll see!

RP is going to have a tough time in SC and FL because of his anti-war policies. He is taking a good approach in suggesting the other candidates drop out and join him against Romney though. If he can pull off a decent showing in those south-eastern states, he can be in good shape for Nevada, so it's not absolutely over, but a Romney-Obama election will shift my focus back to watching the new Beavis and Butthead episodes--a bit more intellectually stimulating.

My family's from SC. I'm an independent (leaning DEM), but all my family is very REP. I don't know who they'll go for. They're all very religious and I don't know if they'll judge Romney, etc on their religion... but RP isn't very traditional and that may cause him issues there. Dunno.

Hi everyone,

As you have probably heard, there's a presidential election in the U.S. in a few months. If you are a U.S. citizen living in CH and want to vote, this note is for you.

Numerous states have passed new laws regarding registration, photo ID, etc. and some of those new laws impact overseas voters. Since many states require voters to be registered no less than 30 days before the election, now is the time to make sure your information is current.

I was an election official for 12 years in the States before moving here. If you would like information on how to check your registration status, change your information, request a ballot, etc. let me know. On thread or PM is fine. I will not provide any partisan information - only the legal stuff that applies to your state.

Have a great day and please vote!

Any why exactly should I vote?

The President of the United States is elected by representatives of the electoral college - a small group of people who have been selected by the state governments. In several states, these electors are not even required to vote according to the popular vote, but can cast their votes based on their personal preference (or their party membership). In other states, the electors must vote according to the "winner takes all" principle - in other words, the votes are cast based on a simple majority, ignoring hundreds of thousands of popular votes for the "losing" candidate.

At the end of the day - my vote means absolutely nothing to the outcome of the presidential race. I was registered in California before moving to Europe 23 years ago - and California traditionally votes for the Democratic party candidate. Even if I supported Romney (gasp), my vote would mean nothing.

Posting the info would be great! I am pretty sure I registered via overseas voters (or whatever it is called!) but I haven't double checked nor have I looked into the photo id issue.

So, I would love info on checking my registration status.

Thanks!

FYI, the ACA's voting information section has a great deal of helpful information; see especially the links to voter renewal:
http://americansabroad.org/issues/voting/

Your vote means nothing? This is a complete misunderstanding of the system. If you choose not to vote, that's your choice, but to imply it means nothing is just foolish.

But this is just the opinion of someone who lived in Tallahassee, Florida during the 2000 Presidential election, which is one of the best examples of the power of individual votes. Oh well.

Seeing how many voters (Minorities, surprise) were disenfranchised in 2000, Florida wouldn't actually be a good example supporting your position - the opposite really

Name 1 person disenfranchised in the 2000 election. You can't.

There were claims of people being turned away from the polls for allegedly illegal reasons, as there have been in previous elections and elections since. None of those claims ever proved to be true. Not one. I lived in Florida for 24 years and have never seen someone turned away from the polls, for any reason, in any election. I could walk into a polling precint, loudly declare I have no legal voting status, and still be handed a ballot in Florida.

There were claims of illiterate individuals disenfranchised because local activist groups told them to make a punch on every page of the ballot, failing to actually examine the ballot that year that listed candidates for one office on 2 pages. This is not the fault of the local municipality, state of Florida, nor the US government; it is only the fault of the activist groups and the individuals voting.

Never in the whole time that that election was going on, was there any documentable case of voter disenfranchisement/fraud. If there had been anyone that had been legitimately disenfranchised/defrauded in that election, the partisans on one side or the other would have never let it die. Yet, all the allegations have died, save for those that still float in the conspiracy-theory circles that never let anything die.

Not that I think it'll convince you, but for others who want another side of the story - From the US Commission on Civil Rights - http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/vote2000/report/ch2.htm (from this: http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/pubsndx.htm)

I am not very good at replying to multiple people in one post. If someone can help me figure out how to do that, I'd appreciate it. For now:

WhileI understand your apathy, it is exactly this kind of attitude that creates thevoting environment we have today. If you don't vote, you are letting everyoneelse decide for you who will be in power. Sure, you live overseas now but a lotof the laws passed impact your family, your friends, and of course, your taxes.You are right that the Electoral College ultimately decides who becomespresident, but the truth is that it has only been different from the popularvote three times in our entire history - 1876, 1888, and 2000.

Not only that, but consider there are other contests on the ballot beyond Pres/VP, many of which are arguably more important.

The way I do it, and it seems to work is hit multiquote for the first ones you want to include and then quote on the last one and get working on the post!

Same applies to me, having last lived in NY state I'm not really worried about New Yorkers picking R-money in favor of Obama.

There are many races "down-ballot" that can be considered more important than the presidential race. After all, your senators and congressmen/women are the ones that write the laws. In some states, you can also vote for your state legislators even if you are overseas. As I said to someone in PM, the laws that are passed at each level still impact your family, your friends, and your taxes.

Same. I think Vermont can do without my vote this time around. Unless RP were to run as Independent, but that's a whole other can of worms.

One can always hope!

Tom

Well some pictures say more than words!

I loathe this argument - voting is not a "right" or "deciding" anything, but rather the means by which you grant complete strangers a proxy to exercise your rights on your behalf. by refusing to vote, you are effectively refusing to grant any of the strangers on the ballot the right to exercise your "power" on your behalf, which is just as powerful a statement as voting for the lesser of multiple evils. yes, one person refusing to vote would be a meaningless statement, and yes, some people fail to vote because they are simply lazy or uninformed (although many people who choose to vote are likewise lazy or uninformed), but when 10's of millions of citizens refuse to vote it is a meaningful statement as to the state of the union. my personal wish is that every single person who does not find a candidate on the ballot that they truly want to grant proxy to will refuse to vote, which is the only way that our backasswards political system will ever be compelled to change.

it was written as "we, the people" for a reason, after all.

The problem with democracy at an individual level is that there has never been an election I could have voted in, in which my single vote would have come close to making a difference.

The other problem is that everyone's vote carries the same weight and many people are simply not interested or remotely clued up on what different candidates offer. Large swathes of the electorate would be able to make a more informed decision on who should win America's Got Talent/ X Factor/ Big Brother...

A further problem is that anyone with the depth of character and real-life experience to genuinely make a difference is put off by the thought of the intense media scrutiny which they quite possibly either would not pass, or which would make their lives (and those of their families) a living hell.

So you end up with a vicious cycle of dull candidates offering watered down policy to a disinterested electorate. For goodness' sake this year the Republicans have nominated a guy who was their second best back in '08 achieving less than half the popular vote that McCain did in the primaries back then.

When I travel the US or the UK I see similarities in both in that the political elite of both countries do not seem to come close to reflecting the values and belief systems of the electorate.

Alternatively I rather like the Swiss system where everything isn't left to the choice of politicians but rather much more is trusted to the people to decide in a referendum which tends to result in fairer and more representative policies.