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More than half a million Americans in Canada can vote in US presidential elections. And virtual communication between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump More than ever, a handful of expatriates could decide who will be the country’s next president in the polls.

Steve Nardi, an American living in Canada, is the international vice president of Democrats Abroad (DA) and one of the volunteers working to make it easier for his countrymen to vote from abroad.

“It is estimated that in Canada there are 600,000 to 650,000 possible voters. Canada has more voters than Minnesota. Therefore, every vote is critical. When Joe Biden won Georgia in 2020, he won by approximately 11,500 votes. And from abroad he received (in the state) 18 thousand votes,” he explains to EFE.

Official data from the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP), a US federal agency that makes it easier for Americans living abroad to vote in elections, An estimated 2.9 million American voters live outside the country. And in 2020, of this number, about 226,000 foreigners voted.

Canada is a country where most Americans have the right to vote According to the latest 2020 election data, there are 516,309. The United Kingdom is second with 327,245, and Israel is third with 183,499.

In 2020, 8% of the half a million Americans in Canada voted in the presidential election. According to Democrats Abroad, 95% of those votes were for Joe Biden.

With only a few days left until the November 5th election, DA volunteers are looking even under rocks for Americans in Canada.

In Toronto, Julie Buchanan has been organizing café meetings for weeks to help those who want to vote and have questions or don’t know how to do so.

Other DA volunteers stand on strategic streets in the city, home to about 100,000 Americans, with a U.S. flag to attract the attention of their fellow Americans.

And in the Canadian city of Windsor, located across from Detroit, for the first time in history, Nardi and a group of volunteers are going door to door to find Americans and encourage them to vote, regardless of who they support, although, of course, the hope is that they will do it for the candidate from the Democratic Party and current Vice President Kamala Harris.

Kelly Paulette is an American who has lived in Canada for 50 years. Last weekend, he attended one of the meetings Buchanan organized to ensure his ballot reached his home state of Connecticut. “I’m here to help myself,” he explains to EFE.

Paulette does not hide who she plans to vote for. “Kamala is a wonderful person. I think people will be much safer with this. And when I say people, I mean everyone, whether they live in the United States or the rest of the world.”

In his Southern accent, Buchanan expresses dismay that only a fraction of his fellow Americans living abroad will vote on November 5th.

“I’m a little worried that people aren’t taking this seriously enough because we’ve already gone through four years of the Trump presidency,” he told EFE.

And he adds that living abroad has changed his views, which helps explain why most of the votes coming from abroad go to Democratic candidates.

“It has a huge impact on how the world sees itself and how the world sees America. It changed me a lot. “I’m from Alabama, and I don’t think I’d be doing all this work for the Democrats if I lived there,” he stresses.

Alex Maynard, another volunteer who helps people like Paulette vote, agrees with Buchanan that living outside the United States affects one’s political perspective: “You look at global issues from the outside, like climate change or trade relations.” , differently,” he said. assures.

EFE