Expat votes crucial for deciding next US president
6 Nov 2012 8:47 AM IST
Over 630 million American expats, who live in 160-plus nations, could play a crucial role in deciding whether Barack Obama remains in the White House or Mitt Romney replaces him in on Tuesday’s Presidential election.
‘632 million Americans (excluding military) live in 160-plus countries...If all these Americans were placed in one state, it would be the 17th most populous state in the US,’ according to the Association of Americans Resident Overseas.
There have been many changes to the way Americans abroad -- including civilians, military personnel and their dependents -- can vote in US elections, and organisers trying to rally them to participate say, this year, those votes could count for a lot, CBS News reported.
The Overseas Vote Foundation (OVF) says US military and federal civilian employees, along with voting age dependents and spouses, amounts to roughly the same number of people as the Federal Voting Assistance Programme estimate for 2008, or about 2.5 million people. According to analysts, this election may be determined in the Electoral College by a dozen battleground states, in which, recent polls show, Obama and Romney are virtually tied. Those swing states are: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.
‘632 million Americans (excluding military) live in 160-plus countries...If all these Americans were placed in one state, it would be the 17th most populous state in the US,’ according to the Association of Americans Resident Overseas.
There have been many changes to the way Americans abroad -- including civilians, military personnel and their dependents -- can vote in US elections, and organisers trying to rally them to participate say, this year, those votes could count for a lot, CBS News reported.
The Overseas Vote Foundation (OVF) says US military and federal civilian employees, along with voting age dependents and spouses, amounts to roughly the same number of people as the Federal Voting Assistance Programme estimate for 2008, or about 2.5 million people. According to analysts, this election may be determined in the Electoral College by a dozen battleground states, in which, recent polls show, Obama and Romney are virtually tied. Those swing states are: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.
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