I have voted in every election I have been eligible to do since I turned 18 years old. And when I say every one, I mean every one. Every municipal election, every run-off, every one.
When I moved to Texas from Canada, I voted by mail. The day I became a naturalized U.S. citizen, I registered to vote and applied for a U.S. passport.
When I first left Canada, citizens could only vote for five years after their departure. That has since been changed. Today, the criteria state that to be on the International Register of Electors, you must be a Canadian citizen and at least 18 years old on polling day, live outside Canada, and have lived in Canada at some point. So, I guess it is time for me to register myself again.
I voted by mail in yesterday’s U.S. election. I must admit that I wonder if these ballots are received and counted. In this election, the Texas Secretary of State and Harris County Clerk both offered tracking for mail-in ballots.
According to the tracker, mine was successfully received and tabulated.
It is weird to be so far removed from the electoral process when you are out of the country. With the time difference, some polls were still open when I went to bed last night. As I got back from my first meeting this morning, they were declaring a winner. I guess the time difference worked in my favor this time. If I was back in Texas, I would have stayed up half the night watching the returns come in.
Red, White and Tulips 