reflecting on my voting record and life as a migrant

[amw]

For entirely selfish reasons, i really wish the US election season was limited, like it is in pretty much every other democracy. The reason is that apparently no matter my intent beforehand, i still end up getting suckered into following the horse race, for nigh on TWO FUCKING YEARS out of every four. It's ridiculous. "She doesn't even go here

Comments

[annaserene]

Interesting. My situations have been different but I can relate in certain ways. For instance, as soon as I turned 18, I felt it was my responsibility to vote and I always have in the U.S., where I was living at the time, though I realized last week that I hadn't been living in the U.S. during a presidential election since 2012. Anyway, one issue with local elections here is that they are so small that at times only one candidate is listed for a certain position, but the worst thing is when these local candidates are listed but I can't find any information about them. It might be considered a "minor" election, but it blows my mind that I'm sitting at home with my ballot and cannot even find a website for more than half of the candidates, nor can I easily find any information about them online, not even on the town's website, which facilitates the voting. So that's odd in my opinion and frustrating.

The other, more relevant, thing is that I haven't lived in Germany for more than a few months since I was a child. In 2014, I was studying abroad in Japan and knew a lot of exchange students from Europe. At one point I was asked whether I was voting in the EU elections. I didn't that year, but similarly, I feel like I ought to and that it's my responsibility. Then again, it is something I need to research and be informed about and prepared for. I felt bad, but I hadn't even realized that election was happening. A friend from England told me it's better not to vote than to vote uninformed. Voting is a right and a privilege, so I don't think I should complain about the "burden" of it. But like you said, it can be different when you don't actually live in that country. I spent weeks in Germany each year for decades, but it's not the same as hearing people around me discuss politics, being surrounded by that country's media, or living in that place. At some point, I asked my mom why she hadn't voted in German elections by mail in the years she's spent outside of Germany, and it seemed like she didn't know it was possible or it hadn't crossed her mind. So I've voted by mail from abroad in German elections at least twice, and I felt confident about my choices, but sometimes I do get things wrong, such as contacting the wrong town hall in Germany (one that I wasn't actually registered at last, but which they thankfully sorted out when I screwed that up or sent my documents to the wrong place or whatever). I don't know. This sounds selfish but frankly it can be a bit of a hassle (similarly, back when I was voting by email from outside the U.S., figuring out the formatting and sizing of my ballot could turn into a headache, but whatever). I guess this is a reminder for me to stay on top of what's happening in Europe and to vote in Germany more consistently. Maybe I'm just lazy, but it's not like I've been neglecting my civic duties completely... I do always vote in U.S. elections, at least. I suppose I also have some power in being able to vote in these two regions.