A voting registration reminder on this holiday weekend:

For Americans and the world, it is an exciting U.S. election year,
regardless of your party affiliation.

Americans living overseas are encouraged to register to vote (or re-
register) from now until by September 30, 2008, using the internet
with the system designed for the US military. By registering to vote
from overseas, Americans qualify to use a special write-in ballot
which all US embassies have on-site, should their requested ballot
from home not be delivered in time.

Democrats Abroad is doing all we can to make voter registration
readily available and easy. We have developed a voter registration
tool, VoteFromAbroad.org : Home which works for anyone, regardless of
voting preferences, from any computer.

The VoteFromAbroad.org : Home is easy to use. Students and travelers,
as well as permanent overseas residents simply identify their home
State (elections and voter registration are determined by the State
governments), and the appropriate data fields to be completed are
automatically displayed. Those that use this system then only need to
send, print, sign and mail the registration forms to the address given
by the site. In this way, registrants give only the necessary
information -- and no more! -- to register to vote from their overseas
location.

This registration system is for any citizen born before November 4,
1990, no matter if he/she has ever been registered to vote before.
Additionally, there is no penalty for duplicate voter registration, so
it is something that every American should do this year.

Democrats Abroad and other voter registration volunteers in Italy are
available to help register students in the Fall during on-site
orientation programs in September. If you’d like more information
about this service or have questions about how you can assist students
in voters registration, please feel free to contact me and I’d be glad
to point you to the right people and places. We want to make the
best use of our voter registration volunteers.

You are invited to send this information to anyone else who would find
this information pertinent.

Thank you for your attention.

Sincerely,


Lisa Finerty
Chair
Democrats Abroad Rome Chapter

AMERICA NEEDS OUR VOICE
Where in the World will you Vote?
VoteFromAbroad.org : Home

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lisa@SecretGardensItaly.com

Welcome to the forum, and thank you for the information.

I actually have a question about voting from abroad. I think I will be in India, and I'm not sure how to get a ballot, since I won't be in one place for any period of time, nor do I know how long it would take for my ballot to reach the US. Is there any way to deliver it to the US Embassy, or do I have to send it by FedEx or something to make sure it gets there within a reasonable period. I think that absentee ballots are counted about 10 days after an election.

Maybe you could explain the actual voting procedures, too.

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My Travel Blog

I thought Diebold had purchased the right to vote on my behalf.

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

Synthia,
One thing to be careful about with voting from overseas. Each state has its own requirements about when an absentee ballot must be received - in some cases it depends on the postmark of the mailed in ballot (and foreign postmarks may or may not be easy to read), in others it must be received by a specific date (like end of the day on election day or a few days later).
Cheers,
Bev

Thank you both for the information.

I expect to still be in the US in September, but not in November. Must I already be out of the country to register through one of these systems? My plan is to re-register so I'm eligible to pick up a ballot at the consulate, and have the ballot sent to my mailbox in the US, then forwarded to me by a private carrier when I know where I will be. But it may be simpler to just pick up a ballot in Delhi or Bombay.

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My Travel Blog

Consulates and embassies outside of the country do not have ballots. Ballots are sent from your State elections official. On the voting wizard sites (e.g. wwwVoteFromAbroad.org), you can direct that your ballot be sent anywhere.


You do not need to be out of the country to use the voting wizards to register as an overseas American, but you must list an overseas address where you live --- either now or during the time when you can logically expect the ballot will be sent, i.e. September/October 2008.

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lisa@SecretGardensItaly.com

Part of my problem is that I don't know what country I will be in (or even what continent).

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My Travel Blog