American voters living in northern Ontario 'weep' for their homeland

For some 30 years after George Sidun Jr. left the United States for Canada he never thought much about his citizenship.

Then Donald Trump ran for president in 2016.

Sidun, a former Republican, mailed in a ballot from his Sudbury home for the first time and when Trump won the election, he finally got his Canadian citizenship.

"When I lived there, you're playing the game, you're in the football game. But now that I'm in Canada, it's like I'm in the bleachers and I'm watching the game and I have a different perspective," says the now dual citizen.  

"I'm just glad I'm here in Canada."

Sidun is still waiting for his ballot to arrive in the mail from his home state of Pennsylvania so he can mail it back to be counted on election day Nov. 3.

Worrying about delays in mail delivery, Janice Liedl decided to give up some of the privacy of her ballot and voted by email.

The Laurentian University professor was born in Indiana, but hasn't lived in the U.S. since 1985.

Liedl says she was once a Republican voter, but now wants to "weep" at how divided her home country has become. 

"People that you thought were family or friends, might have other respect for you, throw insults at you, call you 'sheeple' call you 'libtards,'" says the dual citizen who is supporting Joe Biden and the Democrats.

"With some relatives I just don't feel safe talking about politics, because I know it's going to break that connection."

There are an estimated 1 million Americans and dual citizens living in Canada, some 600,000 who are eligible to vote in U.S. elections, but only about 5 per cent cast ballots in the last election in 2016.