SAN GABRIEL VALLEY, Calif. — Hundreds of people who are registered to vote locally will cast their ballot from thousands of miles away.

Nearly three million people living overseas are eligible to vote in this election, according to the Federal Voting Assistance Program. 

Shanaz Korneliussen is originally from the San Gabriel Valley and has been living in Europe with her Norwegian husband since January 2017.

They live in Norway but she closely watches what’s going on at home. U.S. politics are covered a lot in Norwegian news.

“Seeing how Europeans view us in the last four years has been really eye-opening,” Korneliussen said. She says many people there assume a majority of Americans voted for and support the current administration. Yet, she believes the current administration isn’t doing anything to better the lives of the American people and wants to use her voice.

“I just want to do as much as I can because living far away, and especially with everything going on, I just feel like there isn’t much I can do,” Korneliussen said.

She registered to vote online through the L.A. County registrar’s office, and a ballot was sent back in the mail. Korneilussen mailed back her ballot. She is aware of security risks, but she’s more concerned about it arriving on time.

“I think it’ll get there but my plan is to call and check and make sure L.A. County receives it,” she said.

In 2016, just under 7% of eligible expat voters voted in the election. That’s just over 200,000 people.

Voters need to register/request an absentee ballot and vote. All states except North Dakota require voters to register to vote before casting a ballot.

Overseas military and other citizens with military post office access can drop off their ballots for return free-of-charge provided they use the postage paid envelope template available on fvap.gov.