In 2022, Statista estimates 168.31 Americans were registered to vote in state and federal elections. During this same time period, 121,916 adults representing approximately 52.2% registered voters actually voted (as a share of the voting population), according to KFF.
Migration of remote workers represents a huge voting block
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Business (MIT) estimates about 27% of working adults in the US work from home at least part of the traditional five day work week. This figure equates to about 22 million people says Pew Research Center. Why is this important?
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The remote work movement created a phenomenon where employees are no longer tied down to their traditional work location. They became location independent. Flexed their muscles and chose to work from anywhere. This new philosophy attributed to the mass migration where remote workers relocated from densely populated metropolitan areas to surrounding in-state suburbs. Other tele-commuters selected to move completely out-of-state from left-leaning states to more conservative states of lower taxes, housing affordability, space and other amenities (The Center for Economic Policy Research: CEPR). This mass migration may have a major effect on the outcomes of local, state and federal elections.
Remote work migration can change battleground state outcomes
Most remote job opportunities are offered in left-leaning states: Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Maryland, Massachusetts and Virginia (Newsweek). As American workers migrated, they left liberal leaning areas (blue states for red and purple states post-2020). Data taken from IRS Statistics show battleground states such as Arizona, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Nevada, Michigan and Wisconsin experiencing an influx of people from left-leaning counties.
Critical thinkers emphasizing nefarious intentions of their political opponents may hold that digital nomads, remote employees working from anywhere can be easy prey for political strategists to manipulate for party status and power. Others, with more benevolent views of society may hold that telecommuters represent a progressive voting block that may soften the hardened philosophical beliefs of those within their new destination state.
What do the experts say will be the short term result of remote work related migration? CEPR predicts “most battleground states will swing left due to migration patterns in 2020-2022 (assuming people carry their origin-location preferences with them).’ The impact over a longer term period, however, the converse may hold true. Cantoni, for instance suggests that people may self-select areas to move that are more reflective of their own values. Further, these movers may choose to relocate to states and counties that may ultimately shape and modify their previously long held preferences and beliefs (2022).
Remote working voting segment dwarfs military voting block
Getting back to the numbers. Regardless of one’s opinion, remote staff working from home or working from anywhere represent a huge voting block. If we were to compare the work from home voting segment with the US military voting block we would find that there are just 1.9 military members overseas (source: 19th news,org)? How about the WFH work force?
Statista calculated the number of the remote workers completing remote job tasks from home dwarf the 1.14 million US military personnel stationed in the 50 U.S. states and its territories. Remote working employees and contractors represent a huge segment of the eligible voting population. The working at home population must make sure that its voices are heard for this and other elections.
Relocating working adults 45% more likely to be telecommuters
Here’s another interesting fact. Working aged adults moving across state lines are 45% more likely to be tele-commuters working virtually (source: CEPR). Hopefully as they dislodge from their traditional in office workspace, they become connected to the local happenings around them. Maybe they take the extra downtime to interact with their neighbors at the local coffee shop to ask, “Who is running for school board? What are the policy platforms of the candidates for City or Town Council?”
Remote workers relocating to a different state may not feel versed or as invested in the outcome of local political races than the generational locals and choose not to vote.
Basic voting requirements applicable for remote relocators
Further, recently relocated tele-commuters might experience challenges when attempting to cast their vote for municipal, state and federal elections. Many states hold these basic voting requirements:
- Be a resident of of the state and not someone who visits the state for temporary purposes or plans to return to another state
- Be a U. S. Citizen
- Be 18 years old
- Not currently declared mentally incapacitated
- Not registered in another state to vote or have plans to vote in another state
- If a convicted felon, one’s right to vote must have been restored
When you think about it, military personnel may feel just as detached from the lives of civilians as relocated remote workers to their local communities. And, therefore, not feel the need to cast their ballots. Traditionally, military families are the preeminent movers in, around and out of America’s borders. Prior to the mass migration brought about by COVID-19 and the work from anywhere movement, service personnel and their families living on US bases moved around quite a bit.
Challenges of military voting similar to relocated remote workers
As they migrate from state to state, they have to be informed of varying state laws to gain access to ballots. Do they de-register from their former abode? What is the process? Do they make an conscious effort to register at the local offices or the secretary of state where they will be relocated?
Registering to vote may not be on the top of their priority list when trying to enroll their children in school, find employment for their dependent spouse and map out a lay of the land. Believe it or not, special considerations for active duty military do not allow them to vote in person at:
- US military bases
- US embassies, or
- US consulates
Further, military personnel and their voting age dependents stationed overseas are faced with administrative hurdles and a lack of resources for access to the ballot that enable them to exercise their rights as citizens to vote in state and federal elections. To ameliorate these barriers to voting, Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, was enacted requiring states to mail blank ballots to service members at least 45 days before federal elections. Further, it codified the requirement to offer at least one method of electronic transmission of ballots. It also required states to transmit requested ballots automatically within the calendar year.
Military voting participation rate almost half general population
Even so, the barriers to voting were not erased. Lack of access to voting may represent just one reason why the voting participation rate of military service personnel is almost half (26%) of those in the general population (high end estimates from Statista, 52%; lower end estimates from 19th news Org, 46.2%).
Americans living stateside and citizens working in the state in which they currently reside don’t realize just how easy they have it to make their one vote count. On the other hand, service members stationed overseas may lack access to absentee ballots because of poor resource planning and oversight. Just recently Fox News reported lawmakers having to request answers from Lloyd Austin, Secretary of Defense about individual military personnel complaints about nonexistent absentee ballots.
In closing, remote workers must make a concerted effort to remain fully engaged in the world around them. Such that they do not mirror the voting participation rates of our military compatriots. We can make the world a better place when we are all involved collectively in its civilized evolution.