Short stories from overseas voters
In 2020, we collected stories from 17 Americans living—and voting—abroad. Unlike military voters and their families, the people we spoke to often have little help when it comes to figuring out how to vote from wherever they live.
Read on for highlights from our interviews, as well as a short interview with Christopher Patten, the CCD team member that conducted this research, as he shares why this type of qualitative research is important, and tips for how to get started.
Insights from overseas voters
Overseas voters do a lot of work to vote, often for little return.
All but two of our participants described feelings that ranged from slightly confused to extremely disappointed. But despite the problems they encountered, voters remained determined to cast a ballot.
A participant voting from Mexico said “We just take it in good faith that it will arrive and be counted. Who knows if that’s true or not. We do our part on our end.”
Understanding the ballot is hard, even if you’re engaged in US politics and news
A few participants explained that when they don’t have connections to a state or even a country, trying to vote is complicated. On one hand, they know it’s important. But on the other, they don’t know so much of the context it requires to make an educated decision. In the end, it creates more anxiety when trying to vote.
A participant in Berlin said voting “feels like you’re trying to cram for a final exam in high school when you haven’t slept.”
Some overseas voters know their local clerk. Sometimes, they’re even friends.
The most successful overseas voting experiences we heard about involved voters reaching out to clerks for personalized instructions on what they needed to do to vote.
A lawyer voting from Hanoi said “I don’t trust that I won’t somehow fall off the [voter registration] rolls. So I always double check with the person who’s managing it.”
Overseas voters want to know their vote is valued.
Several participants we spoke to weren’t sure all the trouble they went through was valued. They had a great deal of doubt about whether or not their vote was actually counted.
A designer voting from London said “It always seems like the overseas voters are always third in rank. First is the military, then diplomats, then me. It feels like it’s designed for other people. I’m a second tier user.”
Voting mechanisms that work in the US don’t always work for voters overseas.
We heard many times that international mail was unreliable. Even if it did function for the overseas voters we spoke to, many participants didn’t trust it and used expensive couriers that could provide confirmation that their ballot was delivered.
A Peace Corps volunteer navigated many challenges voting from Peru. She found out her ballot was never received, saying that the experience “was annoying because I put so much effort to do this. I also felt bad because the race was so close! Also the money I paid, it wasn’t a ton of money but more than I expected to pay. You don’t make a lot of money in the Peace Corps.”
Rumors and misinformation keep overseas voters from participating in elections.
It can take a long time for changes in laws (like the expansion of voting options for overseas voters in 2009) to make it into popular knowledge.
A participant in Australia said they often meet expats who incorrectly believe that when they choose to live overseas, they lose their right to vote. He said “a lot of Americans don’t know they can vote overseas.”
Why we gather stories about voters
We sat down with Christopher Patten, the team member who led this research to talk about why we do this kind of work.
Why do you think it’s important to gather stories from voters to inform our work?
I used to think that election officials didn’t have time to read stories. It turns out I was totally wrong.
For one project that involved interviewing new citizens, I predicted the election officials we were working with would be more interested in the practical takeaways or next steps more than reading a bunch of stories. I created a little book of stories anyway, thinking CCD could use it for workshops later.
The stories are now far more used than my practical takeaways. I’m not a story expert, but I think stories can speak to anyone in government in a way that a set of recommendations can’t. One theory might be that it connects civil servants to the reason many of them entered their roles.
What tips do you have for election administrators (and others!) who want to get more voter input but don’t know where to start?
It’s not easy to reach people, especially if they don’t speak English or don’t trust the government or are marginalized in any way. You can’t expect them to come to you — you have to go where they are. This means churches, local grocery stores, restaurants, or community centers. Building relationships at these locations will help build trust and slowly allow folks to share their feedback.
This was originally published in our Civic Designing newsletter. Subscribe on Mailchimp to get election design tips delivered to your mailbox.