It turns out that I am disenfranchised. I do not have the right of suffrage in Canada or in the United States.

Both are having national elections this fall (Canada’s is scheduled on October 14, 2008, before the US elections. The conservative Prime Minister chose this date in part in order to avoid influence from the US election results–i.e. if Obama wins, it could tip things towards the liberal side in Canada.

I can’t vote in the US because I’m only a green card holder, not a citizen.

And I can’t vote in Canada for the following reason:

If your date of departure from Canada was five or more years ago, you are not eligible to vote unless you meet one of the following criteria.

You are exempt from the five-year limit if you are posted outside Canada as:

  1. an employee of a federal or provincial public administration; or
  2. an employee of an international organization of which Canada is a member and to which Canada contributes; or
  3. a person who lives with an elector described in a. or b. above, or with a member of the Canadian Forces, or with a civilian employed as a teacher or as administrative support staff in a Canadian Forces school

I don’t meet any of those exemptions.

The weirdest provision above is c)–so, I could just randomly get a Canadian roomate who happens to be a federal employee or employee of an international organization etc? And then I could vote?

So, it feels very weird to be voteless. I’m like a true citizen of nowhere (even if I’m technically a Canadian citizen). Kind of like the guy in that movie The Terminal.  But, shouldn’t all citizens have a right to vote in their country???