Hi Synthia,

The procedure followed by those of us voting fromoutside the country is:

1) Register to vote from overseas through one of the voting wizards which qualify the voter through the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP). The FVAP which was designed for use by overseas military personnel. I have used them all over the years and think VoteFromAbroad.org : Home is the easiest to use. It has the extra benefit that it works on all computers no matter how old or how slow the connection speed.
You need to have the address of the last place you or your family lived in the US, and the wizard will reveal the appropriate data fields to be completed, based on your home State.

2) On this registration, you assign an address --- either overseas or Stateside --- where you would like the State to send your ballot. Most States send the ballots in the middle of September so give an address where you will collect mail during the middle of September. It can be a friend, or a postal drop, or hotel, if you are travelling. Note: ballots can be mailed anywhere, regardless of your overseas residence and you US residence.

3) Once you receive your ballot and vote it, you can mail it from a local postoffice (with appropriate local postage). Mailing through the post is better than any air courier since postoffices give it a time stamp. You can also mail it through the AFO system at U.S. Embassies around the world; for this, you will have to have a U.S. postal stamp.

4) If you do not get a ballot after you have made a timely registration as an overseas voter, all U.S. Embassies have "Federal Write-In Ballots" which you qualify to use to vote, if you have registered through the FVAP system. All Democrats Abroad chapters have these Federal Write-In Ballots, also, as do Republicans Abroad. Google either organizations with a country and a city, and write to the Chair of the local organization. Democrats Abroad will make sure your request is honored.

Note: you cannot use the Federal Write-in Ballot unless you register as an overseas voter. If you have registered with your Secretary of State elections office as a simple "absentee" voter, and not gone through one of the FVAP voting wizards, you do NOT qualify to use the Federal Write-in Ballot, should your ballot not arrive in time.

Each State has the responsibility for tracking and counting ballot requests and ballots for their State's voters. Because the States control their elections, each State decides on its registration and voting deadlines. In addition, FVAP registration and voting requests and ballots are also tracked by the Federal government.

Because of this double-security and reporting by both the State and the Federal government, overseas ballots are more "expensive" to count since they require more manpower to report on their status. This also makes them secure than any other ballot. These voted ballots may not be counted until a date-certain after the election ----- but rest assured that they will be counted!

Hope this helps. Please write with any other questions. And spread the word!

Lisa

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lisa@SecretGardensItaly.com