Americans in Canada vote ahead of US election – Brandon Sun

EDMONTON – Stephen Winters says watching the U.S. election campaign as a dual citizen from Canada is like a parent watching his child play sports.

“When you’re on the sideline, you’re more nervous than when you’re on the inside,” Winters said in an interview from Calgary.

“My friends and family back home say, ‘Don’t worry so much,’ because they’re there and they know things are going well. “When you’re outside, things may seem worse than they are.”

Winters, from Minnesota, teaches linguistics at the University of Calgary. He is one of about 600,000 voters in Canada who were able to vote in Tuesday’s election.

Winters said he cast his ballot but then backed away from reading political news because he felt helpless.

“I voted for Kamala Harris and the Democratic representative in Congress,” he said.

“I don’t think he’s the best candidate, but he’s definitely the best option.”

He says he chose not to vote for former president and Republican nominee Donald Trump because of his foreign policy and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“My wife is Ukrainian and Trump’s relationship with (Russian President) Putin, whatever it is, is really a problem.

“We have friends and family in Ukraine that are in danger from this war, and I don’t think Trump supports the Ukraine cause.”

Dual citizen Georganne Burke said she also submitted an absentee ballot from Toronto.

Burke, a political consultant who moved to Canada from New York State in 1987, says he voted for Trump because it would help the economy and agrees with Trump’s foreign policy.

“I was a staunch Democrat and worked hard for the Democratic party while living in the United States. The party abandoned me. “I haven’t left the party,” said Burke, who is also president of the Canadian branch of Republicans Overseas.

He rejects opposition accusations that another Trump presidency would not respect the checks and balances of democracy.

“Donald Trump is not a threat to society. Donald Trump is not Hitler. He is not a dangerous man. He has the interests of the United States at heart.”

Burke said it’s difficult to watch the U.S. election from Canada because he can’t help Trump’s campaign recruit voters in the U.S., as he has in the past as a consultant south of the border.

“It is difficult for someone like me, a complete politics addict, to watch this from here. “I would love to go there and get my hands dirty and do something, but I can’t.”

The best he could do, he said, was to get his relatives and friends in America and Canada to mark their ballots.

“We have to make sure that the economy of the United States is healthy, that there’s security there, because if things go bad for them, it’s a hop, skip and a jump for us, both economically and physically,” he said. .

Jacob Wesoky, vice president of Democrats Abroad and a 20-year-old American student at McGill University in Montreal, said every vote counts.

“Voters in Canada could decide this election,” Wesoky said.

“I voted for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, then Democrats were not on the ballot.

“Everyone here is very invested in this election. Everyone is watching closely.

“A lot of people are very nervous.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 2, 2024.