Why someone may vote in a country even after physically leaving.

I live in Australia as I have done for what will be the last ten months tomorrow.  Although, if you include previous times I've lived here then it's actually on and off since 2008, a total of six years.  I voted in this year's New Zealand General Election.  This is something that people do not understand.  They can't comprehend why you would vote in a country that you do not live in.  The common view is that if you do not live in a country the policies do not affect you and that you have no right to have a say.

Well my friends, that is what I want to discuss today.

I am a New Zealand Citizen.  And it is my legal right to vote, as any and all citizens should do.  The ANZACs back in the first world war and the second world war didn't fight for our freedoms so we could throw out our right to vote.  They fought so we could enjoy civil liberties such as voting.  When only 77.6% of the voting public exercise their right to determine who leads the Government it's absolutely essential that those who are interested do vote.  Just to emphasise that again, it's our legal right and there are people in the world living in dictatorships who can't vote.  If you look at the fact women haven't always had the right to vote then you'd understand how important it is we take an interest in democracy.

Just because you aren't in a country doesn't mean you aren't affected by Government policies.  I hold a New Zealand passport and that means when I travel overseas I am doing so as a New Zealand citizen.  That is what I am in the eyes of the law.  This means New Zealand's foreign policy can affect people outside of the country.  Then there is education and tax policy.  If you hold a student loan then you're still tied to NZ, which means that Government decisions in these areas will have an influence on your life so why shouldn't you have a say on the matters which affect you.

Another thing is, if you hold bank accounts or an investment property, or even if you plan to purchase an investment property down the line then tax policy will affect you.  If you're being affected by tax policy and have connections with a country then you should absolutely have the right to vote and should exercise that right.

Another reason you should vote is that you may not hold the right to vote in another country.  Until I'm an Australian citizen, 3 years, 2 months and 1 day away (plus processing time) New Zealand is the only country I'm able to vote in and given I studied politics at university it is vitally important to me that I exercise my right to vote.  If I wasn't to vote in NZ then in essence I would have no democratic voice.  And if that was the case then are we really any better than countries in the East that we look down upon for their treatment of citizens.

The main point of this blog post is to highlight the fact that just because you are not physically in a country doesn't mean you no longer have ties with the country.  Quite often you would still have financial or social ties to a country even after you've left.  These social ties could include friends and family members still in the country of origin.  So as long as I legally can I will continue to vote in NZ, that may change down the line when I am an Australian citizen and can vote here, but until then, I have a New Zealand passport so legislation introduced there affects me.