US citizen voting from Australia?
September 5, 2008 5:24 AM Subscribe
How do Americans vote when they are overseas? I live in Australia and my husband works with a young guy who is a US citizen. He'd like to vote in the upcoming election, but has never voted before and has no idea how to do an absentee vote from overseas. Where do we look to find this info, and has anyone had problems doing this before? Do you need to sort it out ahead of time?
The US Embassy in Canberra would be the first place to ask, though there are consulates in most (maybe even all) state capitals. I'd presume (OK, guess) all the military installations make their own arrangements.
Where in Aus are you?
posted by pompomtom at 5:32 AM on September 5, 2008
Where in Aus are you?
posted by pompomtom at 5:32 AM on September 5, 2008
beagle's got the right answer. VoteFromAbroad.org. Fill it out, print it off, and send it in. They'll send you a postal ballot. I am fairly certain (based on the reminder emails I've been getting from Democrats Abroad) that you really need to do it by the end of September in order to get the ballot in time.
(And incidentally, if he stays here long enough to get Aussie citizenship, he'll get to vote in BOTH countries! It's fun being a dualie.)
posted by web-goddess at 5:57 AM on September 5, 2008
(And incidentally, if he stays here long enough to get Aussie citizenship, he'll get to vote in BOTH countries! It's fun being a dualie.)
posted by web-goddess at 5:57 AM on September 5, 2008
Best answer: If it matters, VoteFromAbroad is sponsored by Democrats Abroad.
The official US assistance website is the Federal Voting Assistance Program, and was required to be set up by the Help America Vote Act of 2002.
posted by dhartung at 10:00 PM on September 5, 2008
The official US assistance website is the Federal Voting Assistance Program, and was required to be set up by the Help America Vote Act of 2002.
posted by dhartung at 10:00 PM on September 5, 2008
Response by poster: Thanks, everyone! I'm in Perth, WA. I'm glad I asked now if it takes a while to get it all mailed around the place. I think he wants to vote for the Democratic party, so VoteFromAbroad will probably suit him fine, but I'll send him the federal one as well so he's can check them both out.
posted by harriet vane at 3:05 AM on September 6, 2008
posted by harriet vane at 3:05 AM on September 6, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by harriet vane at 5:25 AM on September 5, 2008