Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – By now you know there’s a U.S. Presidential Election coming this fall! The Vote From Abroad Organization recommends that U.S. Citizens living abroad register or request their ballots annually. While many states keep their voter rolls, some do not.
You need only register once, unless you move, but by requesting your ballot each year you can avoid missing any elections. You will then receive ballots for any elections that occur during the calendar year. The best practice is to request your ballot be emailed to you, especially if you live in an area without reliable postal services.
Once the request is submitted, you will receive a confirmation email from votefromabroad.org with information for your county elections office and more.
So you’ve registered and requested your ballot, now what? Even in federal elections, states determine their own guidelines for the actual voting process. If you are fortunate enough to be registered in a state that votes electronically or accepts ballots by email or fax, you are halfway to the finish line!
There are a handful of states that require you to mail your physical ballot to your county elections office. Under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), states are required to send ballots at least 45 days prior to each federal election. That will be September 21st for the November 5th election day. This helps to ensure overseas voters have sufficient time to complete their ballots and return them by the deadline.
Here are some helpful tips to ensure your ballot is received and counted with the greatest ease. Be on the lookout for an email from your county elections office. As soon as you receive it, follow the detailed instructions on how to complete and submit your ballot.
If you must mail it, print the ballot along with the Signature page, and both the “Security” and “No Postage Required” envelopes provided. Once you have voted your ballot, you must place it inside the security envelope.
Next, place your completed Signature page and the “Security” envelope inside your “No Postage Required” envelope. You can also use ready-made envelopes and tape the information on the outside. If your ballot is traveling any part of its journey through the US Postal Service (USPS), it must be in the “No Postage Required” envelope or in an envelope with adequate postage.
You have two options for returning your ballot via DHL, FEDEX, or UPS:
- Send it directly to your elections office. Be sure to use a street address, not a P.O. Box. The main benefits of this option are, it arrives the fastest and is trackable on the shipper’s website.
- Send it to the Mexican Embassy in Mexico City, to be included in a Diplomatic Pouch. These pouches go to the U.S. on a periodic basis and the contents are placed in the U.S. Postal Service for delivery. The main benefit of this option is that it costs less to send a letter within Mexico versus Internationally, however, there is no set schedule for pouches being sent to the U.S., nor is it trackable. You need to send it to the Embassy by October 2 and it needs to be in the envelope addressed to your county election office either “No Postage Required” or with adequate postage.
Your vote is extremely important. The consequences of this election year may reverberate for many decades. Make sure that your vote is counted!
With country committees and local chapters in over 80 countries around the world, Democrats Abroad is the official Democratic Party organization for the millions of Americans living outside the United States. For more information about the Costa Banderas Chapter of Democrats Abroad, click HERE or contact Chapter-Chair Clint Harris at Info-MX-CostaBanderas@democratsabroad.org.
