VOTE - Get those absentee ballots in the mail ...

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Permalink Reply by Mamma Mary on October 3, 2008 at 5:26pm

I've been bugging Nick to get his absentee ballot. Thanks for the reminder. It is very important.

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Permalink Reply by Carole on October 4, 2008 at 10:20am

Hi Mamma Mary,
You might want to send Nick to that link. He can print out the form and fill it out and fax or mail it. They even have a link for you to look up WHERE to mail it. It doesn't take long and right now you still have a couple of weeks to get this all done.

I think I also read that you can pick up a absentee ballot postcard at a post office, fill it out and drop it in a mailbox postage free. That might be worth looking into.

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Permalink Reply by Mamma Mary on October 4, 2008 at 1:38pm

Carole, I will send him the link. He mentioned something about links on Bupers or one of the Navy sites. He's been busy getting copies of all of his paperwork so he hasn't made this much of a priority. He did say he's decided on who he will vote for. I hope he takes care of it. Not many of us get to vote for our boss. Thanks again. Mary :)

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Permalink Reply by LizaJane on October 4, 2008 at 1:21pm

Thanks a million for the link......sending it to my son.....

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Permalink Reply by Carole on October 6, 2008 at 9:56am

MORE INFO - for sailors overseas or on a ship:

Using the link I have listed in the announcement above, I used my California address (Use your Sailor's Home address) and went to a section called: Military & Overseas Voter Information

Here is some of the information there:

The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) of 1986 (42 USC 1973ff)
protects the voting rights of:

* members of the Uniformed Services (on active duty) and their eligible dependents,
* members of the Merchant Marine and their eligible dependents,
* Commissioner Corps of the Public Health Service,
* Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and
* United States citizens residing outside the United States.

UOCAVA requires states and territories to allow these U.S. citizens to register and vote in elections for federal office (President, Vice-President, U.S. Senator, Representative of Congress) using vote-by-mail procedures. In order to vote in a California federal election, you must have been domiciled in California immediately prior to your departure from the United States.

ETC.,

Then it goes on to give information on:
For active-duty members of the Armed Forces, Merchant Marine, Public Health Service, NOAA, and their family members.

It mentions that you can FAX in your Voting Materials:

Please note: According to California Election Code (EC) §3103(f), military and overseas voters may register to vote and apply for a special vote-by-mail ballot by fax through their county elections office. EC §3103.5 allows the military and overseas voter to return their special vote-by-mail ballot by fax as well. Please refer to the county in which you were last domiciled prior to your departure from the United States and utilize the contact information below for you county elections official's fax number.

THEN at the very bottom of this page I found a link to FAX NUMBERS, which I could look up if I need to.

*** AS YOU CAN SEE, my information is Specific to CALIFORNIA because I'm using my son's CA home address where he is already registered to vote. You need to use this same process using your sailor's HOME VOTING ADDRESS.

For further information, you can contact:

Federal Voting Assistance Program
Department of Defense
1155 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1155

Monday-Friday
8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. EST
Toll-free: 1-800-438-VOTE (8683)
Commercial: 703-588-1584
DSN: 425-1584

E-Mail: vote@fvap.ncr.gov
www.fvap.gov

Hope this is helpful.

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Permalink Reply by Debi on October 10, 2008 at 3:16am

Good Morning ! Thank You for this information. You are an asset. I just printed everything and put it in an enevelope to my son. I was wondering about this and what I needed to send him in order to vote, but the website was great information.

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Permalink Reply by Carole on October 10, 2008 at 4:13am

I'm so happy to hear that this information has been helpful to you. Hope everything works out so your sailor can vote.

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Permalink Reply by ♥Kathy♥ on October 10, 2008 at 7:42am

I did I did!!!!

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Permalink Reply by Carole on October 11, 2008 at 12:15pm

Hooray!

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Permalink Reply by Tamie (mom of Michael) on October 11, 2008 at 11:51am

My son got all of his voting ballot in the mail a couple of weeks ago, they sent it to my address, here in Oregon, but will be home for a visit before elections. He must have done this on his own???

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Permalink Reply by Carole on October 11, 2008 at 12:21pm

Hello Tammy,

That is great news. It means he is registered to vote. I'm assuming your son will not be home on Nov. 4th, so you need to get him his application to vote by mail ASAP, so he can fill it out and get it in the mail (postmarked) before or by the cutoff date so he can receive his ballot by mail.

I don't know exactly how your voting material looks, but here in California, the Official Sample Ballot & Voter Instructions has a section on the outside titled:

APPLICATION TO VOTE BY MAIL --- NOVEMBER 4, 2008 - GENERAL ELECTION

Then it has a statement right below it that says: To receive a ballot by mail, applications must be *received* by October 28, 2008, etc.

Below that is a space to fill in for the home address and the address to mail the ballot to., then a SIGNATURE block. This has to be your SON's signature.

Does this make sense to you? Time is running out, so I would suggest you get this to him as fast as possible.

Let me know if I can clarify further. I'm here to help.

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