U.S. expats in city prepare to cast their ballots

American expats are making their voices heard from north of the border for the upcoming U.S. midterm elections.

Jean Dunmire sported a button emblazoned with the word “VOTE” and an American and Canadian flag as she walked out of the Bill and Helen Norrie Library Sunday afternoon. She had just registered to vote in the midterms from afar for the first time.

“I think it’s really important this time around because a lot of the senators and representatives in the House of Representatives are being reelected and I definitely want to see some changes. Things have gone way off the rails with (U.S. President Donald) Trump and he’s just destroying the country,” Dunmire said.

The 76-year-old moved to Lethbridge, Alta., from California in 1969 before settling in Manitoba in 1973. She’s voted in the last two presidential elections but felt it important to cast a ballot in the midterms owing to ongoing conflict in her home country.

“I have family there and they’re really just sick about what’s happening with the country,” she said. “You feel a little helpless witnessing it from afar.”

Fellow expat Barbara Coombs helped seven people register to vote Sunday. She recently formed the grassroots group American-Canadian Expats in Manitoba to encourage more people to exercise their democratic rights.

An estimated 17,000 Americans live in Manitoba, according to the U.S. consul in Winnipeg.

“As an expat, you’re required to file U.S. taxes in every year. So if I’m going to send in my taxes, I’m going to send in my vote,” Coombs said.

Coombs, who moved to Winnipeg from New Hampshire with her husband in 1990, created the group to help people to register to vote and remind expats of the importance of their ballot. This, too, will be her first time voting in the midterms from abroad.

“As an expat, you’re required to file U.S. taxes in every year. So if I’m going to send in my taxes, I’m going to send in my vote.”

Coombs admits the group was borne out of frustration seeing U.S.-Canada tensions and ongoing conflict in the States. The rules that govern how Americans living abroad can vote in the U.S. midterm elections vary from state to state and Coombs wanted to provide a resource to help people demystify the process.

The Sunday event was the second the group hosted. In June the group registered two dozen people ahead of the Nov. 3 elections.

“There’s a lot of expats living here, but they don’t vote or they only vote in the presidential elections. This midterm is actually huge,” she said.

Voter turnout was 65 per cent in 2024 when Trump was elected for a second time.

The Republicans control the White House and both houses of the U.S. Congress currently. On election night all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate are up for grabs. There are also 39 gubernatorial elections in states and territories, attorney general elections and numerous state and local races.

The group will be hosting a watch party on the night of the midterm elections to see results roll in. No matter the outcome, Coombs will know she exercised her democratic right.

“Yes, you can feel helpless sometimes. But it’s why you vote,” she said.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca