N EWS AND INFORMATION

New Law Makes Absentee Voting Easier for Overseas Americans

March 2, 2010

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 at U.S. Embassy Nairobi is also always
available to answer questions about absentee voting.  To contact the
Voting Assistance Officer, send an e-mail to VoteNariobi@state.gov. 

We all carry our mobile phones with names & numbers stored in its memory but nobody, other than ourselves, knows which of these numbers belong to our closest family or friends.   
If we were to be involved in an accident or were taken ill, the people attending us would have our mobile phone but wouldn't know who to call. Yes, there are hundreds of numbers stored but which one is the contact person in case of an emergency? Hence this 'ICE' (In Case of Emergency) Campaign

The concept of 'ICE' is catching on quickly. It is a method of contact during emergency situations. As cell phones are carried by the majority of the population, all you need to do is store the number of a contact person or persons who should be contacted during emergency under the name 'ICE' (In Case Of Emergency).

The idea was thought up by a paramedic who found that when he went to the scenes of accidents, there were always mobile phones with patients, but they didn't know which number to call. He therefore thought that it would be a good idea if there was a nationally recognized name for this purpose. In an emergency situation, emergency service personnel and hospital staff would be able to quickly contact the right person by simply dialling the number you have stored as 'ICE.'

For more than one contact name simply enter ICE1, ICE2 and ICE3, etc. A great idea that will make a difference!

Let's spread the concept of ICE by storing an ICE number in our mobile phones today!


ICE will speak for you when you are not able to do so.

REGISTRATION OF AMERICAN CITIZENS

Registering with the US Embassy has never been easier.  You can do it online at <https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs/>.

What does registering do for me?

Well, if you here or family in theU.S. are ill or have an emergency, it is a rapid means of putting you in contact with each other.  Visiting Americans are also encouraged to register so we know how to contact them here or their family at home in case of an emergency.

Another potential benefit is inclusion of the size of our American resident community in the US Census. Knowing the number of Americans living overseas could provide benefits such as better representation of your unique needs, as foreign residents, to our government, by example, ample time and information for voting from overseas and improve access to other citizens' rights.

More indirectly, it provides a measure of the number of Americans resident in the district and supports arguments for more staffing on American Citizens issues at the Embassy’s consular section, and to convince IRS, for example, to visit Nairobi to tend to their customers.

Thanks for reading this and please do register.

Rich Appleton

U.S. Consul General Nairobi

Posted on 12/8/2007

INTERESTING LINKS

Overseas Expat Life: Tales from a Small Planet

Expat-Blog: The Online Expatriate Community

Expat Women: Helping Women Living Overseas

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