Number of American expats in UK voting has ‘exploded’ in lead-up to 2020 election

A dramatic turnout from expats in countries like the UK could have a significant impact on the results of the 2020 election

Voter engagement among American expats in the UK “exploded” in the lead-up to the US election, according to Democrats Abroad, the official Democratic Party arm for millions of Americans living outside the US. 

Speaking with The Independent ahead of election day, Inge Kjemtrup, the Chair of Democrats Abroad UK, said a voter-assistance website run by Democrats Abroad, but meant to be accessible to voters of all political stripes, had seen unprecedented levels of engagement in the lead up to US election. 

As of last week, votefromabroad.org had seen roughly 1 million visits in the lead-up to the 2020 election, according to Kjemtrup. That number, the Democrats Abroad UK chair said, represented a 260 percent increase from 2016. 

“One thing we know is that we make a difference in a lot of races,” Ms Kjemtrup said, referring to American expats living around the world. “In 2018, 1 in 25 [midterm races] were won and lost by a 1 percent margin or smaller and that’s the margin we think we bring."

So, a dramatic turnout from expats in countries like the UK, where more than 173,000 US citizens were estimated to live according to the 2011 UK Census, could have a significant impact on the results of the 2020 election, she said.

That is why swing voters abroad “are a bit like rockstars” when it comes to an election season," Ms Kjemtrup said.

While the website assists voters from around the world, Kjemtrup said Democrats Abroad UK has experienced a major surge in engagement from its own members in Britain. 

Among those who have sought out Democrats Abroad UK’s assistance, Sharon Manitta, a spokesperson for Democrats Abroad UK, told The Independent, are Democrats who have not voted in years, as well as Republicans who have said they plan to vote blue for the first time just “to get Trump out". 

“This year has been wonderfully crazy,” Ms Manitta, a 72-year-old who has been working with Democrats Abroad for more than four decades, told The Independent. “So many people are saying ‘I have to vote!’”

“It’s really exploded. It’s been amazing,” she said. 

Mail-in ballots in their envelopes await processing at the Los Angeles County Registrar Recorders’ mail-in ballot processing center at the Pomona Fairplex in Pomona, California, October 28, 2020. ( ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty)

“I registered somebody the other day who hadn’t voted in 14 years, so there’s a lot of passion there,” Manitta said. Meanwhile, she said, the organization has “had a lot of Republicans” asking for help voting. 

While Tuesday’s outcome remains to be seen, Ms Manitta said: “It’s been an amazing election cycle.”

“I’m very old. I’ve been through many of these and I’ve never seen anything like this, but considering we have a president like no other president, it’s not very surprising," she said. 

For her own part, Ms Manitta believes this election is one of incredible importance, with the 72-year-old dedicated to getting the message to vote out as much as she can, even as she contends with a difficult cancer diagnosis.

“I am fighting cancer and a couple of other illnesses, but you know what the CIA says: if you’re being tortured, distract yourself with another kind of pain,” Ms Manitta said. 

Until the election is over, she said, her mantra is: “keep your nose to the grindstone and don’t take anything for granted.”