MONTREAL, Canada, Nov. 7, 2024 —On election night in a Montreal pub,  American students, expats and Montrealers expressed  disappointment and frustration  as results swung between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump at the Democrats Abroad watch party.

Hurley’s Irish Pub was packed with Democrats and the overflow filled  two additional watch parties.

After the first 14 states had been called,  Paul, who preferred not to give his last name,  remained confident about Harris, saying, “It looks like they’ll  win California’s votes.” However, the Montreal resident was worried about the impact of a Trump win, which he thinks could “give Pierre Poilievre much more momentum, and I’m worried about the 10 percent global tariff.” Poilievre is the leader of Canada’s Conservative Party.

Enthusiasm turned sour as the electoral votes were announced, mirroring the tension many Americans living abroad feel about the election. For weeks, expat Americans have been navigating the sometimes frustrating mail-in voting process. In a neck-and-neck race, the 2.8 million potential votes from Americans of voting age living abroad can be decisive: Bruce Heyman, the former U.S. ambassador to Canada, told The Montreal Gazette, “Nearly 50 percent of overseas votes went to battleground states in 2016.”

Michigan was the biggest swing state in this year’s election, said Jacob Wesoky, executive vice chair of Democrats Abroad, with dual citizens who work in Detroit but live across the border in Windsor, Ontario.

For the first time, Democrats living abroad canvassed door-to-door in the area. Considering Hillary Clinton lost Michigan’s electoral votes in 2016 by only 11,000 votes all eyes focused on the screen when the Michigan results were announced.

Source: Emilie Matthews

 Canadians at the party were  just as concerned as Americans about many issues, from tariffs, to reproductive rights, to the reliability of America as an ally. As he watched the results trickle in, Bill Hurley, owner of the pub, said, “When I look at a Trump supporter, I see someone who only cares about themselves. His supporters have a greedy mindset because he only cares about himself. In Canada, we’re more considerate of our own people.”

For the first time, the Democratic National Committee invested $300,000 into its official organization, Democrats Abroad, and its 48 country committees to fund efforts to encourage these 2.8 million individuals to cast their votes. In the 2020 presidential election, 47% of active-duty military personnel and 8% of U.S. citizens living abroad voted, as recorded by the Federal Voting Assistance Program.

This essential voting bloc can influence election results in key states. Among the 9 million American citizens of all ages living abroad, about 1.6 million were last U.S. residents in battleground states like Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. The 2020 election showed how important these voters can be, with some states decided by approximately 10,000 votes. Candice Kerestan, the chair of Democrats Abroad in Munich, said, “We were able to deliver enough votes to secure President Biden’s wins in not only Arizona but also Georgia.”

To secure votes across the world, the organization launched a campaign and VoteFromAbroad.org, which helps Americans request their absentee ballots and overcome voting obstacles, like needing to print and send their ballot.

By the time the screen displayed 182 predicted electoral votes for Kamala and 230 for Trump, the cheers and backslaps from earlier in the night had faded, and many attendees began to make their way home. Tonight’s results reflect the polarized state of American politics, leaving many anxious about what the next four years will bring.

“Three times in a row. You can’t beat this clown. Democrats need to revisit the building blocks that define them,” said Dr. Anton Parker, a U.S. citizen from Pennsylvania, as the bar closed.