Once again this year, we are proud to announce that, thanks to our long-standing partner Overseas Vote Foundation, military and overseas voters can register to vote and request their ballots directly from the FAWCO website, using the latest secure technology and benefiting from access to OVF’s continuously updated state-specific voter information.
Voters in the equivalent of the 26th state (6.32 million overseas Americans, according to the State Department) can click on the home-page button and go straight to a dedicated site where they can:
1. register to vote and request an absentee ballot
2. request an emergency Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot if their own ballot arrives late
3. get state-specific information about eligibility and deadlines
4. find full contact details for their own election official
Election season 2014 kicks off with the January 21 Iowa caucuses. You can check your state's website to see what elections will be held this year (senator or not, governor or not...) and learn scheduled primary dates. Things can change, however, so return again or visit the FAWCO-OVF site to be certain of your state’s deadlines.
The 2014 FPCA (Federal Post Card Application) form has been revised and improved. For one thing, the FVAP did listen to our concerns and eliminate the language that required voters to choose between their “intent to return” and their “intent not to return”.
The law now states that voters must request their ballots every calendar year. Remember though that, because the legislative language is not perfectly clear, a number of states may interpret the MOVE (Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment) Act to mean that voters must request a ballot for every election in the year (primary, federal, special, run-off…). Be sure to check the box that requests a ballot for every election!
And be sure, before sending your ballot request to your election official, to give the form one more look to make sure all information is complete and correct. Don't let a silly detail delay your ballot!!
While all personal information is instantly erased from the FAWCO-OVF site the moment you click to validate your registration, certain general statistics are kept on the number of voters who have registered, the countries they register from, and the states they register in. This information is invaluable when FAWCO and its partners go to Washington to talk to legislators. It gives us a picture of the overseas voting population - and no one is more aware of the importance of 1 vote here and 1 vote there than a legislator facing or having just survived a close election. Encourage those around you, therefore, to use the FAWCO-OVF site as well.
This year, thanks to OVF, it is easier than ever before to register and request your ballot. That makes it all the more inexcusable not to!
Remember, if you like the current Congress, vote and make sure they all come back in 2015, and if you don’t like them, elect people you like better! Whatever the case, there is no more precious right of citizenship than the right to vote, so use it!