We hope that all Alabama voters have sent in their ballot request to vote in the December 12 Special Federal Election for US Senator. Earlier today, while requesting information from the Alabama Secretary of State, it was uncovered that the ballot request deadline of December 7 published by the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) was incorrectly labeled at postmarked by, when in fact, the FPCA form required every year to receive a ballot must be received by your election official in Alabama by that date.
This is not good news for any registered Alabama voter who has not yet sent in their FPCA to vote in this extremely important election. Please do so without any delay, and depending upon the reliability of the airmail service in your location, consider using an express delivery service to be sure your required FPCA request form is received by the deadline on December 7. And even if you do not believe your FPCA will be received by the deadline, please send in your form anyway -- you never know how events will unfold.
The silver-ish lining for any voter in this situation is that we have also learned that voters who choose to receive the ballot by email/online will be given access to Alabama's online ballot marking system to cast your vote. You can both mark your ballot and certificate AND submit them both online. The ballot and certificate are encrypted and sent separately, thus preserving the secret ballot.
Here's what you need to know:
- Alabama voters must send an FPCA form to request a ballot to vote in this Special Election → Fill out the form at www.votefromabroad.org
- The FPCA form must be received by December 7 by your election official in Alabama
- When filling out the FPCA, choose to receive your state ballot by email/online and you will be able to vote online
- For voters waiting to receive the state ballot for return by mail, vote now using the FWAB backup ballot → How to Vote with the FWAB
- The state ballot or FWAB deadline is December 12
- mailed ballots must be postmarked by DEC 12 AND received by DEC 19, 12 noon CDT
- online ballots must be received by DEC 12 (remember: only those who selected to receive the ballot by online will have this option)
If this news affects your ability to vote in the December 12 Special Election, please let us know. Tell us about your situation at [email protected].