Back in May I mailed in my application for an absentee ballot so that I can vote in the U.S. Presidential election in November. My last address in the USA was in Atlanta so I get to vote still as a Georgia resident. At least for federal offices. As a non-resident, I don't get to vote in state or local elections.
There are only seven weeks until the election but Georgia won't issue my ballot until next week. Due to COVID-19, the mail is delayed and it took +7 weeks to get birthday cards from the USA.
So soon as my ballot arrives I head to the Prague Embassy to submit my ballot.
As an American citizen I get to vote in federal elections even though I live overseas.
An EU national living in another EU country has the right to vote in municipal and European elections held in the country they live in. For example, an Irish citizen living in Czechland get to vote for a Czech MEP. But an Irish citizen doesn't get to vote in Czech national elections because he or she is not a Czech citizen.
Not all EU countries allow citizens to vote in national elections if they are not residents. Ireland doesn't allow citizens to vote in national elections if they don't live in Ireland.
I remember Scottish friends in Brno saying that they didn't get to vote on Scottish independence because they weren't living in Scotland at the time of the election.
To me this always seems odd that a citizen doesn't get to vote in national elections if they aren't a resident. But then again, they don't have to pay taxes at home on income earned abroad. They pay taxes only where they earned the income. Americans get to vote while living abroad but we also pay taxes in the USA on income earned abroad.
I don't know if Czech citizens get to vote in national elections if they live abroad. Probably not, but if someone knows then please let me know.
Update: My absentee ballot didn't arrive until 4 November, the day after the election.
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