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The Expat Vote

By Jeralyn, Section
Posted on Sat Jan 29, 2005 at 07:24:13 PM EST
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Has anyone in the media noted a similarity between the jubilant, Iraqi expats who believe they are creating a democracy with their votes and the Cuban expats in Miami, most of whom turned out to be conservative Republicans?

How bizarre, just after I wrote that CNN began airing a "then and now" profile of Elian Gonzales. Less than one hour before the polls open in Baghdad.

The Rocky Mountain News reports on the expats who can't vote because they don't live near one of these cities:

The closest polls to Colorado are in Chicago and the Los Angeles area, each roughly 1,000 miles away. And voters had to travel twice: to register one week and to vote the next. Other polling places are in Detroit, Washington, D.C., and Nashville, Tenn.

Only 25,946 Iraqis have registered to vote in the United States. An estimated 240,000 were eligible.

Why so few polling places?

< If the Election Goes as Planned | Voting Opens in Iraq >

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    The Expat Vote | 8 comments (8 topical)
    Re: The Expat Vote (none / 0) (#1)
    by wishful on Sat Jan 29, 2005 at 07:54:14 PM EST
    If all these Iraqi ex-pats around the world can vote by mail like this, then why do the in-country Iraqis have to stand in slaughtering lines to vote? We have all-mail-all-the-time voting for the State of Washington don't we? Why didn't we do this for the poor suckers we are liberating instead of liberating them from this worldly life? If the excuse is because of a mail system that is not yet 100%, irony truly is dead.

    Re: The Expat Vote (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jan 29, 2005 at 09:17:04 PM EST
    Along those lines, why couldn't the Iraqis in the USA vote by mail rather than traveling twice to one of only eight polling places? I never heard that any of them were offered a mail-in option.

    Re: The Expat Vote (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jan 29, 2005 at 09:39:05 PM EST
    If the Iraqi "expats" feel so strongly about freedom on the march in their Dear Country, that they will heroically drive a thousand miles to register to vote here in the USA, and then turn around a week later to drive heroically another thousand miles to vote here in the USA; why don't they goddamn volunteer to fight for their dear freedom in their Dear Country instead of letting Bush send US citizens to fight, kill and die in their Dear Country? This is such absolute BS.

    Re: The Expat Vote (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jan 29, 2005 at 10:04:54 PM EST
    Are the Iraqi ex-pats going to turn into the Miami Cubans? Do they have any intention of returning even if their chosen side wins?

    Re: The Expat Vote (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jan 30, 2005 at 08:34:38 AM EST
    In answer to Roscoe: They will not be returning to Iraq to live. I just saw a guy on TV who had voted and he protested that the interviewer said Iraq was his country!!!! He said the USA was his country. But he voted in the Iraq election.

    Re: The Expat Vote (none / 0) (#6)
    by wishful on Sun Jan 30, 2005 at 08:35:29 AM EST
    If we didn't make the Iraqis stand in slaughtering lines to vote, all the good PR would be non-existent. How could we get those liberal pundits to crow about the Iraqis willingness to sacrifice their lives to practice the democracy Bush brought to them? Safe and private voting just wouldn't have the selling advantages of the death and destruction we'll be able to show as evidence that this war against WM.., um, mass grav.., um Sadam's torture roo.., um,.., terroris.., I get so confused. Why are we doing this again?

    Re: The Expat Vote (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jan 30, 2005 at 09:10:53 PM EST
    Immigrants from totalitarian dictatorships tend to vote for those who stood up to their dictatorships, or at least didn't aid and abet them. They also tend to vote for pro-business candidates since small business is still the immigrant's road to success. Bush got 90% of the Vietnamese-American vote, about 80% of the Russian Jewish vote, a majority of the Eastern European immigrant vote, a lot of the Chicano vote, and the Cuban vote. Is this so hard to understand? Why do you think these people should vote for your candidates?

    Re: The Expat Vote (none / 0) (#8)
    by john horse on Mon Jan 31, 2005 at 04:20:11 AM EST
    Were Iraqis who left Iraq and who have become citizens of other countries allowed to vote?

    The Expat Vote | 8 comments (8 topical)