As global attention turns to voting booths throughout the U.S. this Tuesday, over 30 million Americans actually will have already casted their ballots. A large percentage of these early votes are U.S. citizens abroad and in fact, a growing percentage of them reside in Cuba, a country whose future will inevitably be impacted by the results announced late on Tuesday night.
Most voting American citizens in Cuba have done so by way of the “Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot,” administered by the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP). Voters can access these ballots either on the FVAP website or in-person at the US Embassy. The US Embassy in Havana was unable to report exactly how many US citizens residing in Cuba voted in this election.
This year, for the first time, the Cuban government—at the request of the U.S. government–took out ad space in its state-run newspaper (Granma) and television stations to provide information to U.S. citizens in Cuba on the process of voting and deadlines, according to the U.S. Embassy in Havana.
The next President of the United States will play a crucial part in deciding whether or not to build upon the progress with respect to normalizing relations with Cuba made by the Obama administration. In general Hillary Clinton’s plans are largely in keeping with those of Obama and Cuba is no exception. She believes in an increased dialogue with Havana and ending the embargo. Meanwhile, Donald Trump follows his stereotypical shaky and contradictory positions on Cuba. During initial primary process he shied away from the more hardline conservative view, but after becoming the GOP nominee he has fully embraced the Party’s opposition to rapprochement with the Island.
I was one of the many American citizens who voted early here in Cuba. On a Tuesday morning only a couple of days before the October 17th deadline, I walked along the Malecon with two of my friends from my study abroad program to the U.S. Embassy in order to vote.
To me, the area of the Embassy feels like a physical representation of the history between the two countries. Suffice it to say, the compound is fenced off. In front, lies a hundred flag poles, known as the Mountain of Flags, that when raised block the sight of the Embassy. To the left and right of the flags in bold red letters are the words, “¡PATRIA O MUERTE VENCEREMOS!” [Homeland or death, we will overcome], the Cuban national motto that is the combination of the signature chant of the two most famous revolutionaries Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, respectively. The newly reopened Embassy sticks out with its tall newly repainted tan walls and fresh glass windows signifying a modernized era of diplomacy.
After approaching the dramatic structure, we entered the embassy through a side door and made our way to the American Consular Office. The process felt quite simple as compared to sometimes intricate voting system made up.
This is how it worked step-by-step: first, we filled out our application to vote absentee before moving on to our ballots. We wrote down our candidates and put them into an envelope. Then, after searching through a gigantic book, we found our U.S. county’s election office and filled in the shipping labels. Finally, the ballots were put into a “diplomatic pouch,” basically the embassy’s outgoing mailbox, and sent off to the States. Once received by the county offices, the ballots are to be stored. Then after state polls close on Election Day, all of the envelopes will be opened and the votes will be tallied and added to the total.
“It was a very positive experience voting at the US Embassy in Havana,” said student Selena Cardona of New York. “The clerks were very helpful and walked me through everything I was eligible for. If I thought I couldn’t vote they gave me every option” though, she notes, “I still wish I was able to buy Doctor Pepper or some other American soda there.” We joked that we would contact U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry about fixing that.
To contextualize my experience of absentee early voting, the proportion of the US electorate voting early in some form has seen remarkable growth in recent years, from only 10.5 percent of the total vote in 1996 to 35.8 in 2012. This includes absentee voting, but also early in-person voting and mail-in ballots.
Unlike many democracies, elections in the United States are not controlled by one single federal organization, but rather a complex and sometimes overlapping web of state and county offices that set their own rules. The differences between states are stark. For instance, in progressive states such as Washington and Oregon, all registered votes receive their ballot in the mail. Meanwhile, in states such as Alabama and New York, there is no early voting except for absentee ballots that are only given when voter has provided a ‘legitimate excuse’ to the state.
If history tells us anything, then Democrats are in for higher turnout in in-person voting, but while the vote counts will not be tallied until Election Day, early voters declared party affiliations bode positively for both candidates. Republicans are doing better in terms of early voters as compared to the same point in 2012 race in some crucial swing states such as Florida, North Carolina and Iowa. Democrats are doing well in other states, however, such as Nevada and Arizona. The percentages of black voters are down in North Carolina and Georgia, which is a bad sign for Democrats who are trying to build off of the coalition that President Barack Obama has worked to establish during his two elections. This, however, could be countered by a larger amount of Latino voting is up in states such as Arizona.
Early results have shown a tight race, where every state matters, meaning that every vote could matter more than in the previous couple of elections. Ballots mailed from Havana may in fact provide a crucial push for either of the candidates. And whoever gets elected as the 45th President of the United States will assuredly make a huge impact on both sides of the Florida Straits.
