Although Champaign, Ill., native Judith Maltby has lived in Great Britain for 30 years, she returns to the United States regularly and follows U.S. presidential races. This year’s election is of particular concern to Maltby, a chaplain at England’s Oxford University who hopes “the U.S. remains a serious partner with democratic Europe and continues to be outward looking.” She said she is backing Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton because Republican “Donald Trump’s campaign is about isolationism of the most destructive kind.” Maltby is one of approximately 8 million Americans living abroad, a group large enough to tip elections in close presidential and state contests. They could not vote until 1975, when the Overseas Citizens Voting Rights Act became law. Since then, non-partisan organizations, including Vote From Abroad and Overseas Vote Foundation, have offered help, such as how to register from abroad.
Those living abroad have different priorities from voters who live in the U.S. “It’s inevitable that our varied perspectives are influenced by having lived under other countries’ political systems,” said Dorothy van Schooneveld, a former lawyer who moved to France from Bloomington, Ind., in 1987.
The top voter issues in the United States are economy and terrorism, according to a Pew Research Center survey in July. While those are important issues to expatriates as well, their top concerns are taxes and the requirement to report financial assets deposited in foreign banks, according to American Citizens Abroad, a worldwide advocacy group for expats.
Full Article: 8 million Americans living abroad may tip a close election.