New Law Makes Absentee Voting Easier for Overseas Americans

On October 28, 2009, Congress enacted the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act.  This legislation amends existing law regarding overseas voting in federal elections, and should make voting easier for overseas Americans.

New Procedures for 2010 Elections

Beginning with the November 2010 general election, and for all subsequent general, special, and primary elections, states will be required to mail out ballots at least 45 days prior to an election for a federal office.  This requirement may cause some states to select earlier primary dates in order to comply with the 45 day mailing deadline, or to request waivers due to special circumstances.

In addition to mailing ballots to overseas voters, the states will be required, at the voter's request, to provide registration forms, absentee ballot request forms and blank ballots via fax or email.  However, each state's laws determine whether ballot requests or voted ballots can be returned via fax or email.  The new law prohibits states from rejecting marked ballots based on notarization, paper size, or paper weight requirements.  The witnessing requirements of individual states remain in place.

Overseas Absentee Ballot Requests

Effective immediately, states will no longer be required by federal law to continue to mail election materials to overseas addresses (even when they are determined to be invalid) for two complete general
election cycles on the basis of a single ballot request. It will now be up to each state to determine how long to continue to send out election materials before requiring overseas voters to submit new ballot requests.  This change, sought by local election officials, should greatly decrease the volume of voting materials sent abroad to addresses where Americans no longer reside.

State Department Recommendations

In light of these changes, the Department of State recommends that all U.S. voters residing abroad request absentee ballots from their local election officials at the start of each calendar year, and whenever there is a change of address, change of e-mail address, or change of name, by completing and sending in a Federal Post Card Application (FPCA).  To locate information on your specific state's requirements, and to obtain an on-line version of the FPCA, please visit www.fvap.gov.  Voters may also pick up a hard copy of the FPCA from any U.S. embassy or consulate.  FPCAs may be mailed to your local voting officials in the United States via international mail or from any U.S. embassy or consulate.  Many states allow U.S. citizens overseas to submit the FPCA by e-mail or fax.

The Department of State strongly encourages all U.S. overseas voters to provide email addresses or fax numbers on their FPCAs to enable local election officials to transmit election materials in the fastest manner available, which should then allow sufficient time for the return of voted ballots.  For information regarding your specific state, please visit www.fvap.gov.

Emergency Ballots

The Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB) serves as an emergency ballot for the November general elections for federal offices, although some states also permit its use for elections for state and local offices. Beginning in January 2011, the new law allows use of the FWAB for primary, special, and runoff elections for federal offices.  Voters who request an absentee ballot in advance of their state's ballot request deadline, but who fail to receive an official ballot from local election officials in time to vote, should complete the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot and send it back to local election officials in time for it to be counted. An on-line version of the FWAB, together with instructions for its use, is available at www.fvap.gov.

Questions?

The Voting Assistance Officer in your consular district is also always available to answer questions about absentee voting.  To contact the Voting Assistance Officer, please see the Embassy and Consulate contact information below. 
 
Beijing: The U.S. Embassy is located at No. 55 An Jia Lou Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing.  The American Citizen Services section can be contacted during regular business hours and for after-hours emergencies at (86) (10) 8531-4000; E-mail: amcitbeijing@state.gov or for voting assistance VoteBeijing@state.gov.  For detailed information visit the Embassy's website at http://beijing.usembassy-china.org.cn/.  The Embassy consular district includes the following provinces/regions of China: Beijing, Gansu, Tianjin, Shandong, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, and Jiangxi.

Chengdu: The U.S. Consulate General in Chengdu is located at Number 4, Lingshiguan Road, Section 4, Renmin Nanlu, Chengdu 610041; tel. (86)(28) 8558-3992, 8555-3119; E-mail: consularchengdu@state.gov or for voting assistance VoteChengdu@state.gov.  For after-hours emergencies (86)(28) 1370 8001 422.  For detailed information please visit the Consulate's website at http://chengdu.usembassy-china.org.cn/.  This consular district includes the following provinces/regions of China: Guizhou, Sichuan, Xizang(Tibet), and Yunnan, as well as the municipality of Chongqing.

Guangzhou:  The main office of the U.S. Consulate General in Guangzhou is located at Number 1 South Shamian Street, Shamian Island 200S1, Guangzhou 510133.  The Consular Section, including the American Citizens Services Unit, is located at 5th Floor, Tianyu Garden (II phase), 136-146 Lin He Zhong Lu, Tianhe District; tel. (86)(20) 8518-7605; after-hours emergencies (86)(20) 8121-8000; E-mail: GuangzhouACS@state.gov or for voting assistance VoteGuangzhou@state.gov.  For detailed information please visit the Consulate's website at http://guangzhou.usembassy-china.org.cn/.  This consular district includes the following provinces/regions of China: Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, and Fujian.

Shanghai: The Consular Section of the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai is located in the Westgate Mall, 8th Floor, 1038 Nanjing Xi Lu, Shanghai 200031; tel. (86)(21) 3217-4650, ext. 2102, 2013, or 2134; after-hours emergencies (86)(21) 6433-3936; E-mail: Shanghaiacs@state.gov or for voting assistance VoteShanghai@state.gov.  For detailed information please visit the Consulate's website http://shanghai.usembassy-china.org.cn/.  This consular district includes the following provinces/regions of China: Shanghai, Anhui, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang.

Shenyang: The U.S. Consulate General in Shenyang is located at No. 52, 14th Wei Road, Heping District, Shenyang 110003; tel. (86)(24) 2322-2374; after-hours emergencies (86)(24) 137-0988-9307; E-mail: ShenyangACS@state.gov or for voting assistance VoteShenyang@state.gov. For detailed information please visit the Consulate's website http://shenyang.usembassy-china.org.cn/.  This consular district includes the following provinces/regions of China: Liaoning, Heilongjiang, and Jilin.