I am a dual Canadian/US citizen currently residing in Canada. Can I vote in both the Canadian and American federal elections? Can I vote in the primaries for my party? Am I allowed to cast votes for congressional candidates in the US from the district that I lived in most recently?
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What state were you last a resident of, if you were ever a resident of a US state?– cpastCommented Oct 5, 2015 at 3:55
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The last US state that I was a resident of was Ohio.– Rob FCommented Oct 5, 2015 at 14:10
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1 Answer
For the US, the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act provides that just about any US citizen living abroad who has previously resided within the US is entitled to vote in federal elections as though they still lived at their last US address, provided they'd be eligible to vote if they still lived at that address. If you're overseas on duty in a uniformed service of the United States or as a spouse or dependent of such a person, it's based on your legal residence instead. This is a right of US citizenship; dual citizenship doesn't affect it. This State Department website has details; there's a special process you can generally use instead of the state absentee process. UOCAVA applies to all federal elections (including primaries); state and local election eligibility is up to the state.
For Canada, citizens of Canada living there seem to have the right to vote regardless of any possible loyalty issues with another country. Canadians living outside Canada for over five years can't vote, but if you live there it seems as though it is allowed.
So, the answer is seemingly "yes." For a definitive answer, contact the US consulate and Canadian election officials.
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"as though they still lived at their last US address" - what if I've never lived in the U.S.? I have dual citizenship because my father was born in the U.S.– DanraCommented Oct 20, 2016 at 14:45
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1@Danra Depends where he last lived. It might still be possible.– cpastCommented Nov 22, 2016 at 21:20
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@Danra: I am dating a dual US/New Zealand Citizen who has been eligible to vote since 2008, despite living in NZ prior to the 2016 elections. He did not, but this was more due to NZ sensabilities, as they do have a bit of a brain drain issue with people leaving for other nations (mostly Australia, but the diaspora is all over the place), so NZ ties voter eligibility to residency, not citizenship, so he held himself to that standard with America. From what I've discussed with him, in that situation, he could just go to the U.S. embassy to cast a ballot or fill out paperwork.– hszmvCommented Sep 20, 2018 at 16:06