The U.S. presidential election on November 5 could come down to just a few votes in crucial swing states. Susan Dzieduszycka-Suinat with the U.S. Overseas Vote Foundation says citizens living abroad could play a key role in the outcome.
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00:00How does an overseas voter participate in a U.S. election?
00:03If they're living abroad, then where in the U.S. are they voting?
00:06It is done at the local level.
00:09They will review it at your election jurisdiction, and that is determined by your last address
00:16in the United States.
00:18That's your last U.S. residence where you really live.
00:20That's where your ballot will be counted.
00:22That determines your election jurisdiction that will process your application, send you
00:27the blank ballot, receive your voted ballot, count it, and certify the election afterwards.
00:33How might overseas votes affect the outcome of this year's presidential election, especially
00:37in those key swing states where the margins are really close?
00:40The swing states are top of mind this year, and the margins in those swing states can
00:46be extremely tight.
00:49There were two in 2020, Arizona and Georgia, which were between 10,000 and 12,000 votes
00:56of a margin between the two candidates.
00:59In those two states in 2020, the overseas vote came in in a greater number, between
01:0518,000 and 19,000.
01:09Right now, that's being looked at very carefully by the candidates, by the parties.
01:16To be honest, I've been studying the numbers.
01:18It would be tough to extend that beyond to other states, but if we can do that, if that
01:25can be done again in Arizona and Georgia, I think it'll make the relevance of the overseas
01:31vote that much more important.
01:35Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has recently said that overseas votes are
01:39a cause of voter fraud.
01:41Why have overseas voters become a target for these claims lately?
01:45Trump's accusations, and I'm going to say false accusations, on Truth Social, this is
01:53a pattern of gaslighting.
01:55They're sowing the seeds for potential future claims and delays to counting the vote and
02:03examination of ballots.
02:08Overseas voter applications go through a lot of scrutiny.
02:11We need to provide exactly the same information, exactly that, as a domestic absentee voter.
02:19I would say that they're laying the groundwork for future challenges after the election to
02:25the integrity of the vote.
02:27Any ballot, request any ballot from a UOCAVA voter, I believe will stand up to any scrutiny.