On Oct. 21, Canada held its federal elections. Over 6,000 miles away, Jacinta Hu, Class of 2020, put a ballot into express mail to ensure it arrived before that day.

“Voting is truly the smallest thing – but the most powerful thing – you can do to be involved in the politics of your country,” she explained.

However, not all citizens living outside their home countries share this right, as there is immense variation between nations, with provisions for expatriate voting determined in national legislatures. According to a 2007 report from the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, there were 115 countries with some recognition of expatriate voting rights.

Nonetheless, these rights are hindered by a number of restrictions. External voting rights can depend on the type of activity abroad; only government officials, military personnel and students can vote in Malaysian elections. The right to vote is removed for citizens of the United Kingdom after 15 years of residing outside of the country. In India or Malta, the only option is to travel back and cast a vote in person.

Another common iteration requires expatriates to cast their ballot in person at an embassy or consulate, leaving those in countries without diplomatic representation with no option to participate in elections. Katarina Holtzapple, Class of 2020, explained her frustration that there is no Croatian embassy in Abu Dhabi, otherwise she would have voted in the elections.

Holtzapple is also an American citizen, which provides a much different opportunity. As one of the organizers of Voter Fest, a student-led event on Friday, Nov. 23, she aimed to inform students from the U.S. about voter registration and absentee voting. Manson Tung, Class of 2020, also helped out with the event and noted that the goal of the afternoon moved past partisan divides.

“There are still some things that are bipartisan,” he explained. “We want American students to feel as connected and engaged to voice their own opinions.”

Despite the event welcoming students of various ideologies, the electorate of overseas U.S. citizens heavily vote with the Democratic Party. There are over 8 million of them and they are 10 times less likely to vote than stateside citizens.

“Get Out the Vote efforts among US citizens living abroad is low-hanging fruit for those interested in increasing voter turnout," said Saba Brelvi, Vice President of Democrats Abroad UAE. "In tight races overseas absentee ballots could decide the outcome of a race."

Even with organizational infrastructure in place, casting a U.S. ballot overseas is not a simple process and varies greatly by state. It can require specific registration, requesting an absentee ballot and sending it in via postal service or email.

“Logistically, voting abroad is not that easy because every state has their own rules and regulations,” said Tung. Nonetheless, American students at NYU Abu Dhabi try to overcome these difficulties with events such as Voter Fest, but for other students, casting a vote is not an option.

Sudaraka Ariyaratne, Class of 2021, is studying away in New York City and would have cast a vote in last week’s presidential election, but his home country of Sri Lanka has no option to vote from afar.

“Unless you are able to go to the polling station on election day, you will not be able to vote – which is obviously disenfranchising,” he explained. The restrictive voting rules can negatively impact individuals even within the country, however, Ariyaratne believes that the decision could also be a strategic move to specifically exclude expatriate voters.

“Sri Lanka has a huge diaspora in other countries. During the Civil War a lot of Tamil people – which is a minority in Sri Lanka – fled Sri Lanka and settled in other countries,” he shared, hinting at the government’s desire to prevent minority groups from influencing the elections.

Although this could be a consideration of the Sri Lankan government, it is hard to determine the reasoning for other countries given the immense variation in voter rules, with no clear pattern even between countries that are politically or demographically similar. The U.S. openness to expatriate voting may be tied to the fact it is one of the only countries which taxes citizens living abroad. On the individual side, there are higher logistical costs to external voting and domestic politics may have a lower perceived impact on an expatriate’s daily life – leading to exceptionally poor turnout rates.

If mobilized, some large diaspora communities could generate significant impact on elections, and with increasing transnational migration, these groups could constitute a larger portion of a nation’s electorate.

“Absentee voting is really crucial as we become more and more global,” Holtzapple reflected. “As more people start to travel, study or live abroad for various reasons, we’ll need to figure out… how to handle an international citizen base.”

At NYUAD, students have moved far beyond the borders of their homes, but many still want a say in the future direction of their countries. The debate on absentee voting moves far beyond checking a box; rather, it speaks to how an interconnected global community will understand the role of citizenship going forward.