As soon as it was announced that there would be a federal election, we dutifully sent off for our absentee ballots, filled them out and mailed them back to Canada. Not many people living overseas do this, there isn't much time to order the ballots and they need to arrive in plenty of time to mail them back. So, by voting while overseas we were most likely in the minority...unlike the Conservative Party of Canada.
It is tough to be overseas during an election and to have any sense of participation. We are eligible to vote in Canada if we have lived overseas for less than 5 years or, if we have been overseas for more than 5 years, if there is clear indication that we will be moving back (this is mostly for soldiers and their families stationed overseas).
Another way we are in the minority, or maybe the minor-majority, is that we actually voted, regardless of where we live. In Australia it is illegal not to vote. An Australian can spoil his or her ballot, but everyne must vote or pay a fine. The fine isn't huge, but it gets most people out to the polls.
Given the events of yesterday, the election in Canada is not big news here. Every newspaper, internet site and news station is full of news about the death of Osama bin Laden. After seeing the news stories we find it hard to accept that none of the villagers seeing the comings and goings from the compound didn't figure out that a fugitive of some kind was hiding out there, but that is easy to say when you are living safely like we are.
Another surpising thing in the news right now is that after all the floods and foul weather in this part of the world, plus two earthquakes in Christchurch, there was a tornado today in Aukland. And this is the dry season!
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