[hysan]

Umm... do you even figure having a full time job into account? One that often goes into the weekends? Also, you are painting broad strokes.

1. With my time difference, I'd have to call my reps at a time when I'd normally be getting ready to sleep just to catch them in the morning.

2. In addition to that, not everyone has good internet connection. Especially if you live in a remote area. Prior to a year ago, my internet connection at home was fairly slow.

3. Yes, I'll admit that I forgot about Skype since it wasn't reliable for me in the first few years I was here. However, cost is cost. And having to manage Skype Credits, which I'd never use elsewhere, is just an extra burden compared to what it was like back in the States.

[mikeash]

I get that it's not quite as easy as it would be from the US. But "prohibitively difficult" makes it sound like you're looking for excuses rather than solutions. It might be a little harder but it's not exactly hard. Twenty years ago you'd be paying painful long distance charges just to make that call within the US.

[hysan]

Yes, I'll take back the prohibitively part since I had my internet upgraded a year ago. But prior to that, it was. Can you think of a way to do so without Skype? Or a reliable internet connection? Something that would be possible to do from home since the only overlapping hours are after 9/10pm in my timezone?

And aside from that, it still does not detract from my original statement:

> the effectiveness of getting your voice heard by your "representatives" (the reps from your last permanent residence in the US) is much more difficult

It's not just the contacting. It's also getting them to even care because you don't live on US soil. None of what I'm saying is an excuse, and I don't know why you seem intent on not acknowledging that it can be legitimately difficult.

[mikeash]

If you have a phone at all, there are cards you can buy to make cheap international calls by bouncing through a local number. If you don't have a phone, well, you're stuck, but that's hardly characteristic of being abroad, and you'd have the same trouble from a shack in the mountains in the US.

As for caring about your opinion, why would they care any less about you compared to any other voter?

[hysan]

Never knew about or seen the phone card before. Good thing to remember, but do they really have this in every country? But do note that with a shack in the mountains, you'd probably have normal landline access and even possibly cellular reception, so it's not a good comparison.

I said the caring part out of frustration with the current system. I've always felt that if they couldn't map you to a US address within their jurisdiction, then they'd know that you had less of an ability to influence other voters around you via petitions, grassroots campaigns, etc. So discounting your opinion wouldn't matter as much.

[mikeash]

I've seen those cards in lots of places, but I'll admit it's far from a complete survey. People love to call home, and there are expats almost everywhere, so I'd expect they'd be available just about everywhere.

As for petitions and such, I imagine that would be much less of a factor now with the rise of social networks and such. But the views of our elected officials may take some time to catch up to that.