TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — In Taiwan, of the estimated 57,275 US citizens eligible to vote, there was a 1.1% voter turnout rate in 2022, according to the US Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP).
Although US citizens have the right to vote even if they reside overseas, few participate in elections, as voter turnout remains extremely low. FVAP conducts the Overseas Citizen Population Analysis (OCPA) every two years following a general election, and the latest report found that out of the 2.8 million US overseas eligible voters, 3.4% voted in 2022.
Asia had the lowest regional voter turnout rate at about 1.6%. In Taiwan, out of the estimated 57,275 eligible voters, 1.1% voted in 2022.
The highest voting rates were among overseas citizens in Europe at about 4.7%. In Asia, Taiwan contains the second highest number of US citizens who can vote, ranked after Japan.
US citizens live in 185 countries, with the largest populations in Canada and the United Kingdom at 605,697 and 298,268, respectively. France is third at 152,619, Israel is fourth at 147,151, and Australia is fifth at 110,919.
Japan contains the sixth highest number of eligible voters at 101,384, followed by Mexico at 91,006 and Switzerland at 80,833. Germany is ninth at 80,598, followed by Taiwan in 10th at 57,275.
As for overall voter turnout among these nations, Canada had a voting rate of 2.9% and the U.K. had 3.8% in 2022. France had a 3.3% voting rate, Israel had 1.5%, and Australia had 3.1%.
Notably, Germany saw the largest number of US citizens residing in the country vote in the 2022 election, with voter turnout reaching 9.8%. In Asia, Japan had a 2.6% voter turnout among US citizens, above Taiwan at 1.1%.
An estimated three million US citizens living abroad can vote absentee. The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) says states must allow overseas citizens and military members to vote absentee for federal elections.
According to FVAP, US citizens residing in the US are 18 times more likely to vote than those living abroad. The voting rate among eligible citizens in the US was approximately 62.5% in the 2022 General Election, compared to 3.4% for overseas citizens.
The main two reasons for low overseas US voter participation were reported as “difficulties of figuring out how to vote (20%)” and “overly complicated voting process (22%).” Furthermore, 10.6% of US overseas citizens requested absentee ballots, but only 3.4% returned their absentee ballots.
FVAP said that about 10% of the voting gap can be attributed to real or perceived obstacles that overseas citizens encounter. This voting gap varies among regions, as countries with the most voting obstacles are concentrated in Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa.
Absentee voters must explicitly request an absentee ballot from their state. They may need to update their registration and vote earlier than voters residing in the US to ensure their ballots are received on time.
Overseas citizens are more likely to perceive mailing systems as less reliable in Sub-Saharan Africa, South and Central America, the Middle East, North Africa, and Southeast Asia. Those who voted electronically were concentrated in countries with more voting obstacles, following the theory that electronic ballot return increases the probability of recording votes.
The report found that more than 55% of voters who had the option to return their ballot electronically did so. Many still opted to return their ballot by mail, speaking to a potential lack of awareness among absentee voters concerning options for electronic modes of return.
FVAP is a federal assistance program established by the US Department of Defense and “works to ensure service members, their eligible family members, and overseas citizens are aware of their right to vote and have the tools and resources to do so.” Since there is no list of all US citizens abroad, FVAP compiles US and foreign government data combined with states' records of ballot requests and voting to estimate the number of voting-age US citizens worldwide.
