Explainer: Voting as dual citizen in US election

Voters can still cast their votes for the presidential election despite being a dual citizen of the United States.

What is dual citizenship?

A person with a dual citizenship is the national of two countries at the same time. In this case, a US citizen is also a national of some other country. It provides that person the rights, benefits, and responsibilities across two countries. 

Dual citizens are also obligated to obey the laws of both the countries.

It is essential for US citizens living abroad to complete an official overseas voter registration and ballot request form to vote in the US presidential election. 

However, if a US dual national is living within the territories of the US, then the citizen can vote as a domestic voter.

Can US citizens, who were born abroad, vote?

US citizens sometimes move abroad temporarily or even indefinitely. They enjoy full voting rights under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizen Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA).

Moreover, US citizens’ voting rights aren’t always given to their children if those children are born outside the US and haven’t lived there. However, 38 US states, including Alaska, Arizona, California, Washington DC, etc, allow these US citizens, who are born abroad, to vote, even if they’ve never lived in the country.

Requirements for the US Dual Citizen

US voting laws allow a dual citizen to vote while being within the territory of the country as well as from another country. The key factor is that the person has to be a US citizen.

Additionally, there are some requirements to consider for voting in the US presidential elections as a dual citizen:

• Dual citizen must be 18 years old or older on the day of election.
• The dual citizen must meet the state’s residency requirements.
• The dual citizen must register to vote beforehand.
• If the voter is living abroad, it is essential to file the overseas voter registration/ballot request form.