U.S. citizens living in Canada are being urged to request ballots and vote in the November presidential election, which is expected to be one of the closest on record.
“This race is so tight,” Lee Strickland, chair of Democrats Abroad in Toronto and is supporting Kamala Harris for president, told Global News.
“There’s about 700,000 U.S. citizens living in Canada whose permanent residence is here who are entitled to vote,” he said, while adding only about five per cent exercise their right.
For months, Democrats Abroad chapters have been passing out pamphlets at street festivals and other public places, encouraging Americans living in Toronto to go online to VoteFromAbroad.org and request their ballot.
“It’ll take you about 10 minutes to fill out,” Strickland said.
Some don’t need encouragement.
“Voting is your duty, as a citizen. It’s your duty. It’s a privilege,” said Craig Colby, a Canadian American dual citizen living in Toronto.
Born in Minnesota, Colby is registered to vote in Ann Arbor, Mich., one of the “blue-wall” states considered critically important to the Democratic party in the 2024 election.
“Does my vote count? I don’t know if it’s coming down to one vote,” he said. “But I will tell you I did check to make sure my vote arrived, and it has. And that’s important to me. And if it didn’t, I would have driven to Michigan to make I got my vote in.”
Colby is also supporting Harris in the 2024 campaign.
“I don’t understand not voting, I don’t, at all,” he said.
American tourists visiting Toronto agree about the importance of turning out for the upcoming election.
“There’s maybe some stress associated it, it’s a big headache for some people,” said Shelton Hanly, a 22-year-old college student from New Jersey.
Asked if he’ll be voting, Hanly doesn’t hesitate about his intentions.
“Yeah, for sure, absolutely.”
A fellow graduate student, Zak Jackson, agreed on the importance of voting, wherever you live.
“If you have an opportunity, you should study and get to learn what ‘s going on because if you don’t care about it now, I’m sure once reality hits you’re going to start thinking about those decisions,” Jackson, 23, said.
For Colby, who voted for Harris, the outcome of the election may influence whether he returns to the United States at some point.
“If Trump wins and undermines the democracy that I hold dear. I wonder if I can go back, I wonder if I’ll want to go back,” Colby said.
Strickland and his colleagues are encouraging all Americans living away from the U.S. to obtain their ballots now.
“To all the Americans living in Canada–don’t wake up on November 6th and regret that you did not vote on November 5th. It’s important. Register and vote,” Strickland said.
For Colby, who says he votes in all elections on both sides of the border, election night will be tense.
“I’ll just sit in front of the TV in both hope and fear,” he said.
“I’ll be watching and hoping and really, really, really, hoping that my fellow Americans see what’s at stake here and do the right thing.”