Explainer: United States election 2020. Video / Nathan Meek
Christine Valverde swore she wouldn't have anything more to do with US politics when she moved to New Zealand 15 years ago.
"But when [Barack] Obama happened, I became involved," the Democratic Party voter said.
"Then I said 'No more' - but then [Donald] Trump was elected. Then I said, 'I'm in it for at least four more years'."
Valverde, who volunteers as the voting representative for the Democrats Abroad New Zealand, has spent the last few months making sure US nationals living in New Zealand make their votes count in today's elections.
"I've been helping people get their local election office information - if they don't know where to send their ballots, making sure they know their state's deadlines, some states have different deadlines," she said.
"When you're an American who lives overseas, in most states you have to re-register to vote for each election. Elections in the US are run by each state, not by the federal lawmakers."
A lifelong Democrat, Valverde said the worsening pandemic in America and building tensions in the country secured her vote for Biden this year.
"I have friends and family there [in the US] that I love and a lot of friends in the LGBTQ community, a lot of black friends, a lot of Jewish friends, and I don't want to leave them hanging," she said.
"It's time for kindness and empathy to come back to the US. I believe that Biden will champion kindness and empathy and healthcare and women's rights."
Biden's involvement in championing the Violence Against Women Act in 1994 - which he wrote and advocated for - was one of the reasons Valverde has supported him over the years, she said.
"I've met him on several occasions and he always seemed to be very primed, he listens when people talk to him. I've never heard Joe Biden make anything about him."
Christine Valverde, from Pennsylvania, US, and now living in Auckland, with her her mail-in ballot for the 2020 US Presidential Election. Photo / Supplied
Valverde said she sorted her mail ballot back in September, spurred on by Covid-related postage delays.
But she said the voting process for a US citizen outside of the country was a far cry from what she'd seen in New Zealand's recent election.
"It's like living in a different world than the US," she said.
"People are having a lot of trouble getting sent their ballots. I was helping one guy in New Zealand send his ballot back to Florida, he spend hundreds of dollars tracking the ballot and making sure it had arrived to be counted. It was expensive."
Her own father, based in Pennsylvania, had even had trouble getting his voting ballot sent to his home.
Valverde, who will be following today's election at a watch party at a Hamilton venue, said she was "excited and anxious" ahead of the big night.
"I'm always excited for American elections, but I'm anxious that Trump will be re-elected and the international situation could get worse," she said.
"I have a lot of family at home, my parents are in their 80s, I have a son and a sister with pre-existing health conditions and a family member who is a nurse.
"Considering some of the things I've seen in the news that Trump supporters have been doing, I've been apprehensive, but I'm cautiously optimistic."
A software engineer and Republican voter, who doesn't want to be named, says it's "going to be quite a decisive win for Trump".
"That's because traditionally the Democrats vote by mail and the Republicans vote on the day," the dual American and New Zealand citizen says.
"So because the Democrats don't have a huge lead over Trump right now, once the voting day comes in, all those Trump voters go and vote on that day. That's just going to propel him right ahead."
"I think that everyone kind of knows, that's the general consensus out there, that Trump is going to win."
He's voting for Trump this election, but hasn't always been a Republican supporter.
He says in the past, he's voted for Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Obama.
He says he voted for Trump during his first election because the Republican candidate was not "beholden to the money powers."
"That was the first time, because he can pay for his own campaign. But now, this time, it's mainly about his record. He has huge record of accomplishments of what he's done."
