Election Tips from FVAP for October 29, 2010

COUNTDOWN: 96 HOURS TO THE ELECTION-DON'T DELAY!

Election Tips Straight From Local Election Officials (LEO) — If you are one of the many voters, who requested to receive their absentee ballot by email, make sure that your email provider does not block attachments and use an email address that supports sending attachments.

If you have not received your requested ballot, double-check that the absentee ballot is not blocked from entering your inbox by adding your LEO email to your address book, contacts or safe senders list and check your spam folder to see if it is there. Additionally, you may need to clear out some of your emails from your inbox to make room for LEO communications and possibly large sized ballot PDF attachments.

To find contact information for your local election office, go to www.FVAP.gov and select “Where to Send Forms” under Quick Links.

Mail Your Ballot Back Immediately —

  • States that require absentee ballots to arrive prior to Election Day: Mississippi*, North Carolina.
  • States that require absentee ballots to be postmarked prior to Election Day: Alabama, Illinois***, Iowa, New York, North Dakota, Ohio**, Pennsylvania, Utah.


*Stateside Uniformed Service Members, Their Families, and Overseas Citizens
** Stateside Uniformed Service Members and Their families
*** Voters from Boone, Hancock, Jersey, Massac, Schuyler and St. Clair Counties can postmark their ballots up until Election Day.

Most other States require the ballot to be postmarked or received by Election Day. Visit your State specific page at www.FVAP.gov for all ballot return deadlines. Service members overseas and their families may Express Mail absentee ballots FREE of charge from any MPO/FPO or American embassy and consulate through November 24, 2010 – just ask to use the DoD Label 11. This label allows you to track your ballot at www.usps.com. Find out more about this new label at www.FVAP.gov.

Haven’t Received Your Ballot? — Don’t Wait until It’s Too Late… Use the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot (FWAB)! FVAP has an online automated FWAB, which will guide you through the voting process and provide all federal candidates which can be chosen online. Just print and return the ballot to your State. Many States allow ballots to be returned by email or fax. Consult www.FVAP.gov to see what your State allows.

If you have not yet registered to vote, or requested your ballot, you are running out of time. Some States are still accepting registration applications and ballot requests.

  • States still accepting ballot requests where registration is not required: Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Wisconsin*.
  • States still accepting registration and ballot requests: Arizona, Connecticut*, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Washington.
  • States still accepting ballot requests from registered voters: Connecticut, Delaware, Louisiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Vermont.


*Uniformed Serive Members Only

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. 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 immediately. The instructions in your application package will tell you how you can submit the form.

Contact Us — FVAP is here 24 hours a day at 1-800-438-8683, DSN (312) 425-1584, via online chat or at vote@fvap.gov to answer all your questions regarding absentee voting. Follow FVAP on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/DoDFVAP and Twitter http://twitter.com/FVAP.

Our Electronic Transmission Service (ETS) enables LEOs and voters to transmit and receive election materials toll-free via fax or email. If you only have email or fax available, ETS provides a fax-to-email or email-to-fax conversion. The Electronic Transmission Cover Sheet must be used when faxing or emailing election materials. Packages can be faxed to: 1-800-368-8683 or (703) 696-2148; emailed to ets@fvap.gov. More information can be found in the ETS Instruction Manual.

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.