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By Zerline Hughes Spruill

I think we all remember where we were on November 5, 2024. I was volunteering for the Election Night party at my alma mater, Howard University in Washington, D.C. I was surrounded by fellow alumni, students, community residents and VIPs. We were all amped-up Kamala Harris supporters pridefully walking about Howard's legendary yard at dusk as if the votes had been counted and my fellow HU alumna had already won the presidential race.

As polls closed, the jumbotron screens turned on featuring the CNN reporter who was broadcasting live from the media pen on Howard’s yard. First, Kentucky, Indiana and Vermont results showed. Then West Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland. That's when I left my volunteer post early for home around 10 pm. By 10:45, Vice President Harris had 46.3% of the votes, and Donald Trump had 52.5%. It was a sad, solo Metro ride to northeast D.C., but I couldn't be amongst all those supporters to officially hear the news on the sacred ground that both she and I walked on 13 years apart from one another.

I left the U.S. six months later.

The result of the election, however, is not why I left. My plan to leave the United States had already been in the works years in advance because the election was business as usual. The tireless work that I had done as a volunteer, professional social justice advocate, and service journalist was, again, about to take a turn with a new administration. Flip. Flop.

While I am taking a respite from my United States residency, I continue to write, advocate and vote as an American citizen – from abroad. In fact, I cast my vote via email from Oaxaca City, Mexico, in Washington, D.C.'s June 2026 primary and special election - a ballot featuring mayoral, council, attorney general and hyper local leader candidates. I also plan to vote during the upcoming general election in a few months, though I won't be anywhere near my Washington, D.C. voting precinct again.

Instead of asking one of my grown kids to (illegally) fill out an absentee ballot on my behalf, or designate someone as a voter in proxy (legal), I registered online in Mexico to vote from abroad. I had no idea this was an option until I walked into the Oaxaca Lending Library and saw the VotefromAbroad.org table situated near the entry to attract us American immigrants. After completing my application, I surveyed a few of my American colleagues living as immigrants around the world on how they vote in elections. Several said they either can't since they are now residents of another country, or they return to the states during election season. The reality: American immigrants (more widely, but erroneously referred to as expats) residing in other countries — even if as dual citizens — can vote in their federal and local elections, and they don't have to do so in person.

The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986, makes it legal to vote from abroad, and requires every state and territory to provide a ballot via postal mail or email to American-born citizens. This guarantees overseas Americans can vote with the convenience of not having to leave the country they've emigrated to.

Votefromabroad.org, a nonprofit that helps U.S. citizens register and vote from overseas, works to reach Americans before deadlines pass.

"I try to talk to as many people as I can,” said Teresa Cokl, a former Arizona resident who now lives in Oaxaca City and volunteers for Vote From Abroad. “Because a lot of people come here with an intent to move here, I like to tell them, ‘if you move here, you can be all set up for voting and you won't have to keep going back.’”

Under UOCAVA, states must send a ballot to any overseas voter who requests one at least 45 days before a federal election, by mail or email.

"We encourage them to vote as soon as they get the ballot to allow for time to get it back to the states because a lot of states require that your ballot be mailed physically," said Cokl, who added that international mail delays make that window tight.

Luckily, the Washington, D.C. Board of Elections (DCBOE) allows overseas voters to to cast their ballot via email. I submitted my request for an overseas ballot on a Monday — a U.S. holiday, to be exact, received confirmation of receipt the next day, and by Wednesday, the same week, I was emailed my Election Ballot Return (EBR). Super impressive, Washington, D.C.! Kudos DCBOE.

To be clear, overseas voting differs from a temporary absentee ballot. "Overseas voting is more permanent," said Cokl.

Voters needn't re-register annually, though she recommends confirming voter status each cycle to be sure. Votefromabroad.org offers state guides and registration help for citizens anywhere in the world. With the general election weeks away, it urges overseas Americans to check their status now, rather than risk a late ballot.

I think about that night on Howard's yard often — not with regret, but with the same restlessness that eventually carried me across borders. Distance hasn't dulled that restlessness; it's just relocated it. I still check the news. I still show up, just from a different time zone. Leaving the U.S. was never about leaving behind the fight. I still care, advocate and write because my friends, family and property remain in the states.

Living abroad doesn't suspend a citizen's stake in U.S. elections. Resources like Votefromabroad.org and the Center for Voter Abroad Turnout Project, exist because distance is a logistical hurdle, not a disqualifying one. With deadlines approaching and international mail working against last-minute registrants (and dare say U.S. mail for already registered voters at this juncture), election officials and advocates alike stress the same message: act early.

For the growing number of Americans building lives overseas, the choice isn't between voting and not voting. It's between planning ahead, or missing the window entirely. Regardless of one’s physical address, staying registered, informed and engaged is an option and right.

My ballot still counts. My voice still travels. And on the next election night, I'll still be watching the results — just from farther away. Maybe, next time with better results for the things I believe in.

Spread the word to overseas voters. Every vote counts.