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Election Tips from FVAP for October 15, 2010

FVAP.gov: Your Gateway to State Election Resources. It is time to mail back your voted ballot! If you haven’t received your ballot, ACT NOW. FVAP has helped many states comply with the new federal mandate for electronic transmission of the blank ballot by providing resources to create tools allowing voters to access and mark precinct-specific ballots online. This gives voters access to complete absentee ballots weeks sooner than by waiting for postal mail delivery.

For those voters that don’t have their regular absentee ballot from their state, the FVAP has an online automated Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot, which guides the voter through the voting process and provides all federal candidates to the voter, which can be chosen online. The voter then prints and returns the ballot to their state. Both of these initiatives and other online tools provided by states allow for quick, seamless and intuitive ballot marking and return.

Find your State below and follow the link to mark your ballot in less than 10 minutes. The only thing left for you to do is print, sign and return based on methods allowed (mail, email, fax or online delivery system).

If you are serving in the military overseas, you and your family members can return your voted ballot by Express Mail for free. The Military Postal Service Agency (MPSA) is sending ballots from overseas military post offices using Express Mail Label 11 allowing you to track your ballot online at www.usps.com. More information on the MPSA Express Mail label can be found here.

For US Citizens currently living or serving in the following countries, MPSA recommends mailing your ballot in no later than:

• October 19th: Afghanistan; Iraq; Kuwait; Kyrgyzstan; Oman; Turkmenistan; Georgia; Kosovo; Poland; Romania; Greenland; Diego Garcia Island; Cuba.
• October 20th: Azores; Russia.
• October 21st: Carl Schurz Commercial Area and Papa, Germany.
• October 22nd: Bosnia-Herzegovina; Israel; Ghedi, Italy; Morocco; Norway; Turkey; ARRC and Suslo, England; Kalkar and Klein Brogel Germany.
• October 23rd: Djibouti; Aviano, Italy.

If you have not yet registered to vote, or requested your ballot, you may still have time. Each State has different registration and ballot request deadlines and many States are still accepting applications.

• States where registration is not required: Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Utah, Wisconsin (Uniformed Service Members only).
• States that are still accepting registration: Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Guam, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia (Uniformed Service Members only), Washington.
• All States except North Dakota, Rhode Island, Utah and Virginia (overseas citizens only) are still accepting ballot requests.

To register or request an absentee ballot use the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA). Go to www.FVAP.gov and follow the prompts to register and request an absentee ballot for the November 2, 2010 election. Many States allow you to submit the FPCA by email or fax in addition to regular mail which will get your ballot on its way to you immediately. The instructions in your application package will tell you how you may submit the form.

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Additional information

We want your feedback! If you would like more information on the Federal Voting Assistance Program or need help with the absentee voting process, please contact FVAP at www.FVAP.gov, 1-800-438-8683, DSN (312) 425-1584, or at vote@fvap.gov. Toll-free phone numbers from 67 countries are listed at: www.fvap.gov/contact/tollfreephone.html.

Thank you for your continuing support in providing voting assistance to military service members, their families, and citizens residing outside the US.