I’ve mailed off my vote in the US midterms. It will be a nail-biting watch, but easier from outside Trump’s America | Eleanor Limprecht
I’m hopeful these elections will be a win for democracy rather than dictatorship, for peace rather than war, and humanity rather than hubris Recently I made my own envelope out of a sheet of paper and sticky tape, signed it and affixed a sticker. Then I took it to my nearest Australia Post shop in Sydney and mailed it. In other words, I voted from abroad in the US midterm elections. Because my last place of…
Key points
- Eleanor Limprecht, an American living in Sydney, has mailed her vote from abroad in the US midterm elections.
- She says Democrats need three House seats and four Senate seats to gain majorities.
- She is cautiously hopeful the 3 November elections will be a win for democracy.
Eleanor Limprecht, an American who lives in Sydney, has mailed her vote from abroad in the US midterm elections, which are set for 3 November. Because her last US residence was Virginia, she could register and request a ballot online, but still had to print, sign, seal and mail it in a folded paper envelope.
In the Guardian article, Limprecht says she would go to great lengths to cast her ballot to lessen the power President Trump holds over her country of birth. She notes that voter turnout in US midterms is typically less than half the eligible voting population.
Claims about turnout and results
Limprecht writes that the current administration is trying to reduce voter turnout because things are not looking good for Republican candidates. She cites gerrymandering, a lawsuit against California over 20,000 voters, an attempt to restrict mail-in voting that was blocked by the supreme court, and a challenge to Alaska's Senate election results if incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan does not win.
She says Democrats only need three seats to gain a majority in the House of Representatives and four in the Senate. If Democrats control Congress, she writes, it will be far more difficult for Trump to get his laws through, and they could create committees to investigate the president and even begin an impeachment trial.
I am hopeful it will be a win for democracy rather than dictatorship, for peace rather than war, and humanity rather than hubris.
— Eleanor Limprecht
War, prices and hopes
Limprecht writes that Trump's Operation Epic Fury has caused fuel prices to skyrocket and that two-thirds of Americans now view the ongoing war against Iran as a mistake. As fuel prices rise, she says, Trump's approval rating sinks.
She recalls the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol, in which five people died and 174 police officers were injured, and asks whether the administration will accept the election results if Republican candidates are defeated. She says three million Americans live abroad, more than 110,000 of them in Australia, and that watching from afar is easier than from within Trump's America.
