Matt Saver has never missed voting in an American presidential election.
And so, two weeks ago, from the comfort of his Whistler home, Saver and his wife filled out their absentee ballots for the 2004 election and mailed them back to the Los Angeles County Recorder.
It was the first time he had voted for an American president while outside of the country but he felt it was important to make his vote count.
"It’s easy to say ‘what’s one vote? It’s not going to make a big difference,’" said Saver, who divides his time between his new Whistler home and his home in L.A.
"But when you see what happened four years ago, it kind of teaches you that every vote does count."
Americans will be going to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 2 to choose their next president. In the meantime, Americans living abroad have been coming out of the woodwork like never before to make their voices heard this time around.
By all accounts it will be a close race between Republican George Bush and Democrat John Kerry, mimicking the close call four years ago.
Official counts in the presidential election in 2000, put Bush above Democrat Al Gore by 537 votes in Florida.
Those voting results did not become final until after all the overseas votes were tallied, a factor which has played a significant role in enticing Americans abroad to vote this year.
"Seeing how we got George Bush by I think 500 votes in Florida last election and there was such a big fight over ‘chads’ and some of the absentee ballots and the military ballots, no one until then really realized how close an election could be," said Saver.
"So every vote really does count."
Estimates point to roughly 500,000 Americans living in Canada with just under half of them (about 200,000) living in B.C. Throughout the spring and the summer, Democrat and Republican organization have been fighting for those potential votes in Canada.
"We have been trying to find U.S. and U.S./Canadian dual citizens who need to know that they have the right to vote in the U.S. and help them to get registered," said Karen Funt, chair of the B.C. Chapter of Democrats Abroad Canada via e-mail.
There was no B.C. representative to speak on behalf of the Republicans Abroad Canada.
"The reality is most of the requests we’ve gotten (for voter registration)… have been from Ontario and Alberta," said Kelli Wight, a volunteer with Republicans Abroad Canada, from the Toronto office.
"Definitely, B.C. would lag behind Ontario and Alberta from a Republican perspective.
"It’s easier to support Kerry in Canada than Bush.
"You get hate mate and things like that so people don’t want that."
Voter registration is now over and all that remains for the Americans living abroad is to wait and see if their votes will make a difference on election day.
Wight said this year there have been increased numbers in voter registration. She attributes that increase to the close call in 2000.
"The voter registration has been very high for this election," she said.
"Everybody is scrambling to try to keep up… Florida has (had) a lot of problems both with hurricanes and with their voting system so it wouldn’t be unusual for some of the countries to be struggling with trying to keep up with their voter registration, which is very high in the swing states because people in the swing states know their votes count."
Florida was just one of six states in the previous election where the candidates were separated by less than 7,500 votes.
The campaign to capture overseas votes was not lost on two Whistler politicians with American roots. Councillor Ken Melamed is originally from Pennsylvania. He moved to Canada almost 40 years ago and is still entitled to vote. This year is the first time he’s tried to register.
As it turns out, he missed the registration deadline.
Pennsylvania is one of the swing states which doesn’t vote consistently for Democrats or Republicans but has a history of mixed votes.
The swing states will determine the next American president.
"I don’t know how Pennsylvania is going to go but I thought it would help," said Melamed.
"I feel quite strongly that George Bush is a danger to the planet and… every vote for Kerry was a vote to the good."
Whistler’s Mayor Hugh O’Reilly has also never voted in an American election. He was 19 years old when he left Aspen and came to Canada.
This year he was hoping to cast a ballot in the American election for the first time ever.
"This is a critical time," he said.
"One of the great things living in Canada is that you have a very global perspective. I have lots of family in the States and there’s many great things about the United States but I think one thing is that the United States needs a new face… with someone who’s agreed to go out and sort of re-engage the world in a dialogue because I think that is one of the most important issues right now."
O’Reilly ran into difficulty registering, however, because he couldn’t recall his last American address from 30 years ago and he also ran out of time before the registration deadlines passed.
That won’t stop him from watching the American election closely.
"I don’t know that the American public who doesn’t leave the United States understands how angry people are (world-wide) and I think a new start, fresh face is critical," said O’Reilly.
"I think if you’re residing in Canada you have that perspective and I think that’s one of the big differences."
Regardless of whether they’ve voted in the election or not, Americans in Whistler will be watching the results closely.
It could go either way, according to Saver. He isn’t paying attention to the various polls, which he calls "manipulative."
He said: "I wouldn’t be surprised with either outcome though and I really don’t know what to expect."
