Voting

Introduction
Overseas Americans – estimated at 9 million by the US State department – have had the right to vote in Federal elections since 1975 thanks to grassroots campaigning by citizens and organizations, particularly Democrats Abroad. Since that time, it's become clear that a theoretical right to vote does not necessarily translate into an effective reality. Each state has different procedures and deadlines, information distribution is difficult, and mail delivery times can be problematic.

Great strides have been made in recent years. More overseas Americans than ever before who wish to vote are able to do so. Congress passed important legislation both protecting and facilitating overseas citizens' ability to vote. Online registration tools like Vote From Abroad at www.votefromabroad.org have made it even easier to send a yearly request for ballot required by the law.

News

2020 Primary Calendar

posted by | DA Switzerland / Global GOTV Co-Chair
January 14, 2020

		State / Territorial Primary
Mon	Feb 3	Presidential Only: Iowa caucuses
Tue	Feb 11	Presidential Only: New Hampshire
Sat	Feb 22	Presidential Only: Nevada caucus (D)
Sat	Feb 29	Presidential Only: South Carolina (D)
Tue	Mar 3	Alabama ∙ Arkansas ∙ California ∙ North Carolina ∙ Texas Presidential Only: American Samoa caucus (D) ∙ Colorado ∙ Maine ∙ Massachusetts ∙ Minnesota ∙ Oklahoma ∙ Tennessee ∙ Utah ∙ Vermont ∙ Virginia
		Democrats Abroad Global Presidential Primary runs through March 10
Tue	Mar 10	Mississippi Presidential Only: Idaho ∙ Michigan ∙ Missouri ∙ North Dakota caucus (D) ∙ Washington
Sat	Mar 14	Northern Marianas convention (D)
Tue	Mar 17	Illinois ∙ Ohio Presidential Only: Arizona (D) ∙ Florida
Tue	Mar 24	Presidential Only: Georgia
Sun	Mar 29	Presidential Only: Puerto Rico (D)
Tue	Mar 31	Alabama runoff ∙ Arkansas runoff ∙ Mississippi runoff
Sat	Apr 4	Presidential Only: Alaska (D) ∙ Hawaii (D) ∙ Louisiana ∙ Wyoming caucus (D)
Tue	Apr 7	Presidential Only: Wisconsin
Tue	Apr 21	North Carolina runoff (only if no federal contest)
Tue	Apr 28	Maryland ∙ Pennsylvania Presidential Only: Connecticut ∙ Delaware ∙ New York ∙ Rhode Island
Sat	May 2	Presidential Only: Guam caucus (D) ∙ Kansas (D)
Tue	May 5	Indiana
Tue	May 12	Nebraska ∙ North Carolina runoff (if includes federal contest) ∙ West Virginia
Tue	May 19	Kentucky ∙ Oregon US Congress & State: Georgia ∙ Idaho
Tue	May 26	Texas runoff
Tue	Jun 2	District of Columbia ∙ Montana ∙ New Jersey ∙ New Mexico ∙ South Dakota US Congress & State: Iowa
Sat	Jun 6	Presidential Only: Virgin Islands caucus (D)
Sun	Jun 7	US Congress & State: Puerto Rico
Sun	Jun 9	US Congress & State: Maine ∙ Nevada ∙ North Dakota ∙ South Carolina ∙ Virginia
Tue	Jun 23	US Congress & State: New York ∙ South Carolina runoff
Tue	Jun 30	US Congress & State: Colorado ∙ Oklahoma ∙ Utah
Tue	Jul 21	US Congress & State: Georgia runoff
Sat	Aug 1	US Congress & State: Virgin Islands
Sat	Aug 4	US Congress & State: Arizona ∙ Kansas ∙ Michigan ∙ Missouri ∙ Washington
Thr	Aug 6	US Congress & State: Tennessee
Sat	Aug 8	US Congress & State: Hawaii
Tue	Aug 11	US Congress & State: Connecticut ∙ Minnesota ∙ South Dakota runoff ∙ Vermont ∙ Wisconsin
Tue	Aug 18	US Congress & State: Alaska ∙ Florida ∙ Wyoming
Tue	Aug 25	US Congress & State: Oklahoma runoff
Sat	Aug 29	US Congress & State: Guam
Tue	Sep 1	US Congress & State: Massachusetts
Tue	Sep 8	US Congress & State: New Hampshire ∙ Rhode Island
Tue	Sep 15	US Congress & State: Delaware

Sat	Sep 19	45 Days to Election: Ballots for the November 3rd General Election should be arriving

New Voter Registration Training

posted by | Global GOTV Chair/DA Canada Victoria Chapter Chair/ DA Canada DPCA Voting Representative
December 10, 2019

Join our voter registration team—protect votes from abroad!

Democrats Abroad sets up Voter Registration events all over the world to help overseas voters makes sure they will get their ballots and VOTE!

Overseas voters need to send in their Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) form to request their ballot every calendar year in which they wish to vote. Our website, www.votefromabroad.org, makes it easy for overseas voters to fill in and submit their form.

To volunteer at a Democrats Abroad Voter Registration event near you, please contact your local chapter of Democrats Abroad. Go to: www.democratsabroad.org and click on "Countries" for contact information--or email us at: gotv@democratsabroad.org

These training materials will provide the background you'll need to volunteer at a voter registration event and help your friends, family, and other overseas voters register to vote and request their ballots. (For your convenience, the training materials are offered either in a training deck OR video format):

Training Deck: Voter Registration: New Volunteers Training (Upd Nov 2019) [google Slides]
Video: Voter Registration: New Volunteers Training (Nov 2019) [45 mins]
Just hit "PLAY" to get the video started.
Please IGNORE the card saying "There is no content to view at the moment, either because no content is shared, or because an unsupported media object is being shared."

Questions about voter registration or volunteering? Send an email to the Voter Help Desk at: gotv@democratsabroad.org

2020 Special Elections

posted by | DA Switzerland / Global GOTV Co-Chair
November 28, 2019

for Vacancies in the U.S. House

Maryland's 7th | Wisconsin's 7th | California's 25th | see Ballotpedia.org for US House Special Elections 2020 ➚

Make a NEW ballot request for 2020 — send your form as early as JAN 2, 2020.

Go to www.votefromabroad.org to complete* the Ballot Request form (FPCA).
We recommend that you choose to receive your ballot by EMAIL or ONLINE to get it fastest.
Follow the instructions to attach your signature online, or print out the completed form to sign it.
Send the signed FPCA to your election official.
To request an absentee ballot, registered voters can EMAIL, FAX or MAIL the FPCA.
To register to vote:
• Maryland and Wisconsin voters must MAIL the form.
• California voters can MAIL or FAX the form or register online.

After you send in your form, be sure to email or call your Local Election Official to verify they received it and will be sending a ballot to you. You can find contact information for your election official using the State Voting Guide on VoteFromAbroad.org or on the instructions printed with your completed form.
If you use the FPCA to request a ballot, only one form submission is needed to cover all 2020 elections, including the November 3 general election.
You can expect to receive your ballot 45 days before the election. Send your FPCA as early as January 2, 2020 to get all your ballots as soon as they are available. Mark your calendar: the November ballot will be sent to you by September 19.

If you have any questions while filling out the form on VoteFromAbroad.org, click the orange chat box button on the lower right corner of the screen to send a question to the Voter Help Desk or email gotv@democratsabroad.org.

Maryland's 7th Congressional District — Primary: February 4 | General: April 28

The special election will fill the vacancy left by Elijah Cummings (D), who died on October 17, 2019. MD-07 contains portions of Howard and Baltimore counties and parts of the city of Baltimore. see map of MD-07 ➚

Primary ballots available from December 21, 2019 (MD has requested a delay for this deadline).
Special General ballots available from March 14.

Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District — Primary: February 18 | General: May 12

The special election will fill the vacancy left by Sean Duffy (R), who left office on September 23, 2019. WI-07 includes Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Burnett, Clark, Douglas, Florence, Forest, Iron, Langlade, Lincoln, Marathon, Oneida, Polk, Price, Rusk, Sawyer, St. Croix, Taylor, Vilas, and Washburn counties. Portions of Chippewa, Jackson, Juneau, Monroe, and Wood counties are also in the district. see map of WI-07 ➚

Primary ballots available from January 4.
Special General ballots available from March 28.

California's 25th Congressional District — Primary: March 3 | General: May 12

The special election will fill the vacancy left by Katie Hill (D), who resigned her seat on November 1, 2019. CA-25 includes the north-eastern portion of Los Angeles County and a small portion of eastern Ventura County. In California, non-presidential primary elections include all candidates regardless of party. The top two finishers advance to the general election, again regardless of party. see map of CA-25 ➚

March 3 Special Primary coincides with California's Presidential Primary election.

January 18: Primary ballots available.
February 18: Register to vote (MAIL postmarked, ONLINE, FAX received)
February 25: Request a ballot (EMAIL, ONLINE, FAX, MAIL received)
March 3: Return voted by ballot (MAIL postmarked, FAX received by 8pm). Mailed ballots must be received no later than 3 days after election. Under California law, while you may receive a blank ballot by email, you may not return a voted ballot by email.

Special General ballots available from March 28.

*Note: When you fill in your Ballot Request form, be aware that selecting "I intend to return" rather than "my return is not certain" may contribute towards establishing yourself as a tax resident in your voting state. Because the legal requirements to establish "residence" or "domicile" for tax purposes are determined by state law and the specific facts of your life, if you are thinking about indicating "intend to return" on your form, you may consider seeking advice on these matters from your tax professional. (Not applicable to voters in AK, FL, NV, SD, TX, WA and WY)

UPU UPDATE: TRUMP AGREES TO ALLOW US TO REMAIN IN THE UPU

posted by | Global GOTV Chair/DA Canada Victoria Chapter Chair/ DA Canada DPCA Voting Representative
October 02, 2019

Good news! Following an agreement by the member states at the Extraordinary Congress on 25 September 2019, the Trump Administration will allow the US to continue to participate in the Universal Postal Union (UPU). Please click on this link to see the Democrats Abroad Statement on the US remaining in UPU

While this is excellent news for the current elections, there is reason to be wary! The agreement allows the US (and other countries) to set their own postal rates starting 1 July 2020. If the US enacts higher rates, it could have a significant impact on mailing to and from the US.

To make sure you can successfully cast your ballot, please:

When you fill out your ballot request form on votefromabroad.org, be sure to indicate you choose to receive your ballot by "Email or online". (We highly recommend you do not choose "Mail"--don't risk your ballot being lost or delayed in the mail!)
Once you received your ballot, we recommend returning your ballot by email or fax if your state allows it.
If your state does not allow ballot return using email or fax, please vote and mail back your ballot as soon as possible.
Other options if you must mail back your ballot and postal mail isn't reliable or available in your country include (1) accessing the US Embassy/Consulate's diplomatic mail pouch (free but slow) and (2) private courier services (expensive but quick).
It may also be possible to mail your ballot from within the US, but check with your Local Election Official first!

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