Guys- look what arrived in my mailbox TODAY!!! WTF??!!

This convinces me that the USPS is most definitely complicit in election tampering. They’re deliberately delaying voter information. Who knows what else they’re doing with mailed in ballots!!

Or it could just be that you're in the Netherlands?

The conspiracy theory stuff on both sides is really damaging your democracy.

Whiskey : no, I seriously doubt that. That package I sent to you left NL customs after two days but then took about a month after that to clear US customs and reach you. That’s piss poor service. In the past I’ve gotten the voter guides long before the ballots were even available.

dkronfeld : I completely agree. However I do believe there’s a grain of truth in some of them. In this instance, I’ve noticed that since Big Manbaby # 1 put his stooge in the postmaster general position there’s been a serious decline in USPS services.

(Big Manbaby # 2 now owns Twit-dom)

I guess this ships via surface, so probably 4 weeks from US to the Netherlands.

Shipping is all over with times here in the US. You could send a handful of letters from one address to one single other address and they'll all get there on different days. I genuinely doubt that USPS is tampering with election material and it really does likely have something to do with shipping delays/times in the US + then having to be forwarded overseas

Via ship.

dkronfeld : agreed.

I get stuff from Paizo every month, that's US (Redmond, WA) to Germany, it's 4-5 weeks.

Let me ask you this... should us citizens living abroad have a say in LOCAL politics?

I get that you used to live in Arizona, but some of these issues are very local, should you have a say on something that may not affect your day to day? Just asking lol

I don't understand how this all works..? do you have a STATE ID? I get that you can vote in federal elections cos us citizen but what about local elections?

Gogo ♔ : I'm an American who lived in the UK for more than ten years. I did not have an Illinois ID because I had no address in Illinois (where I am from), but I was still expected to pay taxes in Illinois. The advice is often that if you are going to move overseas, you should try to establish residency in a state without income tax before you go.

I also had to pay federal income tax every year, unless I was also working and paying them in the UK. They have a reciprocal agreement so that their citizens living abroad don't get double taxed. But I had to pay in one of them, and I was not allowed to vote in the UK.

So I feel like if I'm paying taxes, I should still be able to have a say in how they are used. Plus my whole family lived there and I eventually came back, and if I'd have any kids, they'd be dual citizens affected by American policy. So why not?

Better late than never.

Gogo ♔ : absolutely expats should have a say in the US. I’m still American! I still care about the country! Yes, I happen to still have my AZ driver’s license too. It’s good until 2035 or something like that. When it comes to local stuff it depends on what it is. Usually I ask my friends still in the area what they would like.....

This election there happened to be a ballot initiative that spoke specifically to people in my situation. You bet your ass I voted on it! AZ had a few propositions on the ballot that affected who voted and how. They’re trying to eliminate the Latino vote. I voted!

I’m still responsible to pay taxes there (if earning over a certain amount) even if I never step foot in the country again. Is that fair? If I’m being taxed, I’m speaking out.

The US is the only country that requires taxes to be paid by someone who has NEVER been in the country!! That’s ridiculous! If a Dutch person marries an American, they live here, the parents request an SSN for the kid, that child (even though they may NEVER visit the US) is still responsible for taxes! Is that fair? Hell no! But it’s how it is.

What does the child get for that? If they get nothing then it's not fair but if they get benefits of being a citizen then contributing to the upkeep of the country seems fair to me (in theory; whether it's implemented fairly is a different story)

That was a very big issue for many Dutch people around the time I moved here. They were getting huge bills for back taxes, and fines, from the IRS even when they never visited the states. They now have to hire a lawyer to fight the US government and/or revoke their citizenship but then still owe the money! Crazy!

dkronfeld : I still get my retirement benefits at 62-72 depending on when I choose to draw it out. The longer I wait the higher the monthly payment. That’s money I’ve put into the system from my paychecks. You bet your ass I’m going to claim it.

Swamp Daddy : in this case never would’ve been better. It completely useless to me now and it went straight into the recycling bin. Waste of trees, waste of postage. Waste!

Gogo ♔ : some local elections I do pass on voting but this year was way too big for me to miss it. Especially in a critical state like AZ.

Yeah, I'll get some social security one day but not as much as if I'd lived in the US that whole time. But I have a tiny british pension from my time in the UK that should fill in the gap, if I am able to access it from the US. It really fucks up your finances to have a foot in each continent.

I can't remember why US tax laws are so stupid but they really are. I had a super hard time even getting a bank account at first because nobody wanted to bank with the US gov lurking in the background

But I agree, you still get the retirement you earned and so you should have a say in who sits the government.

Gogo ♔ : sorry if I sounded too aggressive. This is really a hot button issue for me. It really riles me up. I don’t mean to have it come out on you. Sorry.

this is all very enlightening! thanks for sharing

as for kids born abroad, obviously the parents think that making them us citizens or dual is beneficial, if they're ever in trouble they can use the us consulate and be treated like an american citizen, that's worth all the taxes

Gogo ♔ : yeah, the consulate is not as big a help as projected in movies or the news. There’s very little they’d actually do.
Usually if you’re dual you have to abide by the rules of the country you’re in. I’d have to go by Dutch law in any situation or I risk losing my citizenship.

My friends (she’s Dutch, he’s American) they have two small kids. They haven’t gotten SSN’s they travel back and forth with Dutch passports. She said they didn’t want to burden them and when they’re old enough to decide for themselves then they’d help them do it.