Absentee Voting

"Bad politicians are sent to Washington by good people who don't vote." - William E Simon

With the elections coming up this year, it's very important for those of us living overseas to request an absentee ballot early so that there is adequate time for it to arrive and be mailed back stateside. If you would like to request a ballot or register to vote, you can do so by visiting http://www.fvap.gov/. You can also call 1-800-438-VOTE for more information about absentee voting. If you're not sure if you're registered or don't remember what address you are registered at you can look that up at http://www.canivote.org/.


The following information is provided by the Federal Voting Assistance Program:

You can vote absentee in local, State and Federal elections if you are a U.S. citizen 18 years or older and are an active duty member of the Armed Forces, Merchant Marine, Public Health Service, NOAA, a family member of the above, or a U.S. citizen residing outside the United States.

You may register and request an absentee ballot with a single form: The Federal Post Card Application. This application form is accepted by all States and territories and is postage- paid in the U.S. mail, including the Military Postal System and State Department Pouch mail. Hard copies of the form can be obtained from your installation's Voting Assistance Officer or requested directly from the Federal Voting Assistance Program by contacting us.

An online version of the Voter Registration/Absentee Ballot Request form is also available. The online version of the form must be mailed in an envelope with proper postage, or mailed using our prepaid return envelope.

Your Voter Registration/Absentee Ballot Request form must be completed, printed, signed, dated and mailed directly to your local election official.

Your "legal State of residence" for voting purposes is the State or territory where you last resided immediately prior to your departure from the United States. This applies to overseas citizens even though you may not have property or other ties in your last State of residence and your intent to return to that State may be uncertain.

When completing block 5 of the Voter Registration/Absentee Ballot Request form, be sure to enter the entire mailing address of your last residence, including rural route and number. That address determines your proper voting jurisdiction.

Here is my request. Please don't just vote for Republican or Democrat, Teaparty, ect. Actually take the time to find out how the candidates feel about different issues and vote based on your beliefs of those issues. Too many people get wrapped up in the "left" and "right" and don't pay attention to what the candidate stands for or listen to what they are saying. If you don't vote, you don't really have any reason to complain later about the officials in office so inform yourself and help determine the future of our country. 


Thank you to a friend that reminded ME to request my ballot, which I did today and inspired me to post this.