Canberrans waiting with bated breath for US election results

The first numbers are dribbling in on who might be the next president of the United States, and watching it live is a group at PJ’s in the City.

Democrats Abroad Australia, essentially a local offshoot of the US Democratic Party, has been running a watch party from 10 this morning at the pub in Civic’s Melbourne Building, and they’re settling in for the long haul.

Beers are being poured as TV screens and tablets beam the results live from stations like CNN and ABC.

Dan O’Malley hails from Franklin County in Ohio, his mother Jeane O’Malley from Tomkins County in New York State, and Scott Couch from King County, Washington.

Dan was born here in Australia in 1980 after his parents moved here in 1979 – so he has dual citizenship – while Scott moved here in 2019.

They’ve all filled in their absentee ballots and either posted or emailed them back to the US “weeks ago”, depending on their state’s requirements. And as members of Democrats Abroad Australia, there are no prizes for guessing their pick.

“Living through four years of Trump, I already know what’s coming if he gets elected, and I just can’t do it again,” Scott ventures first.

“I think [Harris] carries a bit of Obama essence to her, in that it’s going to be run in a very classy, dignified and respected way.”

“She’s sane, she’s articulate, she has control over herself. Certainly, her ideas and her morals will do something for the middle class,” Jeane says.

“Professional,” Dan adds.

All mentioned foreign policy and its impacts on Australia as reasons they voted blue.

Former national chair for Democrats Abroad Australia, Justin Underwood – still wearing his Biden/Harris shirt from 2020 – says it’s the main job of his group to get these people to vote in US elections.

“So we have our own registration website designed to facilitate the process of getting people to request and submit their ballots from the US,” he says.

“The other thing we do is give representation for Americans living overseas within the national Democratic Party, so we have our own delegates to the Democratic National Convention who vote on party policy.”

Despite COVID restrictions at the time, the watch party the group held for the last election, also at PJ’s in the City, was “massive”.

“The place was packed,” Justin says.

“And I put that down to the fact that here in Canberra, it’s a very political city, and so you’re going to have a lot more people who are engaged with politics, including US politics.”

He has no idea what to expect this time around.

“The polls have been all over the place and it could be anything from a Trump to a Harris blowout.”

But he’s hopeful a poll in his mostly red home state of Iowa is a sign of things to come, which has Harris leading.

“If we are in the lead over there, we’re probably going to be the lead in other unexpected places.”

Madeleine and Arabella, both studying humanities at the ANU, have finished their exams for the year and have come “to grieve, probably”.

“We were in high school the last time it happened, so this is the first election when we’re a lot more involved in politics,” Arabella says.

“We’re just more aware of the stakes and influence that the outcome of either candidate winning could have on the rest of the world.”

They might not have been able to vote, like the US or dual citizens in the room, but both girls are also batting for Harris.

“She’s not Donald Trump,” Madeleine says simply.

“I also like the fact she’s a woman … and she’s so outspoken about things that women especially care about, like reproductive rights,” Arabella adds.