Can I forward my daughter’s ballot to her outside the country?
October 10, 2020 1:35 PM Subscribe
My daughter is a registered voter and, since late August, a college student living outside the US. Can I forward her ballot to her outside the country?
She applied online for Overseas Absentee Voting but hasn’t received anything to date.
She has permanent vote-by-mail status here in CA. Her mail-in ballot arrived in the mail a few days ago. Should I mail the ballot to her outside the country? I could have her send it back to me so that I could post it from the US. Online searching suggest that the USPS might be forbidden from doing this, but I couldn’t find clear guidance for individuals.
Can I forward my daughter’s ballot to her outside the country?
She applied online for Overseas Absentee Voting but hasn’t received anything to date.
She has permanent vote-by-mail status here in CA. Her mail-in ballot arrived in the mail a few days ago. Should I mail the ballot to her outside the country? I could have her send it back to me so that I could post it from the US. Online searching suggest that the USPS might be forbidden from doing this, but I couldn’t find clear guidance for individuals.
Can I forward my daughter’s ballot to her outside the country?
I had a couple of ballots sent to me while living overseas (Germany). In one case, it was a physical handoff. In another, it was sent to me by a family member via post in another envelope (maybe priority mail?). In both cases, I sent the ballot back via the country's postal system.
As a note, the ballot envelopes are HUGE in comparison to other mail. And the German postal clerk was helpfully telling me that I could have saved a bunch of money if my envelope was smaller...my German wasn't good enough to explain the complexities of needing to use the official envelope to ensure my ballot wouldn't be tossed in the trash.
This was in 2012, for a primary and the general election.
posted by chiefthe at 2:43 PM on October 10, 2020
As a note, the ballot envelopes are HUGE in comparison to other mail. And the German postal clerk was helpfully telling me that I could have saved a bunch of money if my envelope was smaller...my German wasn't good enough to explain the complexities of needing to use the official envelope to ensure my ballot wouldn't be tossed in the trash.
This was in 2012, for a primary and the general election.
posted by chiefthe at 2:43 PM on October 10, 2020
Best answer: I'm a California voter living overseas - there's probably not enough time to do this. Overseas voters got their ballots digitally in early September! However, I think she'll still be able to vote if you act right now.
You could do what Huffy Puffy recommends, but I think the problem is that there may not be enough time given the global slowdown in mail capacity given how many fewer flights there are; my local postal system wouldn't guarantee delivery without the fastest/most expensive service when I mailed off my ballot over a month ago.
First, she needs to re-register to vote with her California and overseas address here:
https://covr.sos.ca.gov/
She'll need her:
- California driver's license number/ID number
- social security number
- zip code of voter registration back home
- California and overseas address
- a printer (paper of any size is probably fine; overseas she'll have access to A4 - I use this and my ballot's always been counted)
- two envelopes (again, size doesn't matter)
- stationery like scissors and glue/tape (!)
- a local post office; ideally she should use the postal system's express/"EMS" service (NOT UPS or FedEx or DHL because they don't necessarily do postmarks; the local postal system will); barring that, stamps
1) On the page linked above, after she fills in her information, she MUST select "email" as her first preference for receiving her ballot.
2) After getting through with the form, she should be eagle-eyed at looking for an email from something like "Board of Elections XXX County" - within, she'll find EITHER a link to vote via their own portal/website (I know San Francisco does this), which generates a printable ballot that she MUST print and follow the *exact* instructions on filling in and mailing, OR a printable PDF ballot that she MUST print out, fill in by hand, and send back, again following the *exact* instructions on doing this.
My county requires me to print out a scan (which they send me!) of the signature bit of the return envelope, fill it in, glue or tape it to whatever normal envelope I am using, and then stick THAT inside another envelope that is the actual one you use to mail it in from overseas.
3) If there's no time to do step 2) or if she doesn't immediately receive her voting materials after re-registering to vote (say, within 24-48 hours), she should print out this Federal Write-In Ballot PDF from the Federal Voting Assistance Program, the US government's official program that helps military and overseas voters vote. For this, she'll need:
- a printer (she needs to sign the ballot - her university may have one? A local copy shop?
- a scanner (to scan the signed ballot) - her university may have one? A local copy shop?
- email access if she doesn't have access to a fax machine (also, this is free; international faxes may not be)
She should fill in all the information AND the races and choices she wants to vote for where there is just a "non-federal offices" and "ballot initiatives or other items" space ("X County School Board District Y - Firstname Lastname"; "Proposition Z - NO"). I have found it easier to print and do it by hand since PDF forms can be a little annoying (especially if she's not using a QWERTY keyboard overseas?)
When she's done, it must be printed and then scanned to be emailed back to be faxed (!) via FVAP, who will fax it to the right place - her county board of elections. The email address to do this is fax@fvap.gov. She should email the WHOLE document, not just the ballot.
After a few days, perhaps have her check https://california.ballottrax.net/voter/ which is the state's official ballot-tracking site. My postal ballot got there about three weeks ago. More info for CA voters overseas here: https://www.fvap.gov/guide/chapter2/california
Good luck! It's doable and with normal stationery basically free, but definitely more of a hassle than it should be.
posted by mdonley at 3:32 PM on October 10, 2020 [9 favorites]
You could do what Huffy Puffy recommends, but I think the problem is that there may not be enough time given the global slowdown in mail capacity given how many fewer flights there are; my local postal system wouldn't guarantee delivery without the fastest/most expensive service when I mailed off my ballot over a month ago.
First, she needs to re-register to vote with her California and overseas address here:
https://covr.sos.ca.gov/
She'll need her:
- California driver's license number/ID number
- social security number
- zip code of voter registration back home
- California and overseas address
- a printer (paper of any size is probably fine; overseas she'll have access to A4 - I use this and my ballot's always been counted)
- two envelopes (again, size doesn't matter)
- stationery like scissors and glue/tape (!)
- a local post office; ideally she should use the postal system's express/"EMS" service (NOT UPS or FedEx or DHL because they don't necessarily do postmarks; the local postal system will); barring that, stamps
1) On the page linked above, after she fills in her information, she MUST select "email" as her first preference for receiving her ballot.
2) After getting through with the form, she should be eagle-eyed at looking for an email from something like "Board of Elections XXX County" - within, she'll find EITHER a link to vote via their own portal/website (I know San Francisco does this), which generates a printable ballot that she MUST print and follow the *exact* instructions on filling in and mailing, OR a printable PDF ballot that she MUST print out, fill in by hand, and send back, again following the *exact* instructions on doing this.
My county requires me to print out a scan (which they send me!) of the signature bit of the return envelope, fill it in, glue or tape it to whatever normal envelope I am using, and then stick THAT inside another envelope that is the actual one you use to mail it in from overseas.
3) If there's no time to do step 2) or if she doesn't immediately receive her voting materials after re-registering to vote (say, within 24-48 hours), she should print out this Federal Write-In Ballot PDF from the Federal Voting Assistance Program, the US government's official program that helps military and overseas voters vote. For this, she'll need:
- a printer (she needs to sign the ballot - her university may have one? A local copy shop?
- a scanner (to scan the signed ballot) - her university may have one? A local copy shop?
- email access if she doesn't have access to a fax machine (also, this is free; international faxes may not be)
She should fill in all the information AND the races and choices she wants to vote for where there is just a "non-federal offices" and "ballot initiatives or other items" space ("X County School Board District Y - Firstname Lastname"; "Proposition Z - NO"). I have found it easier to print and do it by hand since PDF forms can be a little annoying (especially if she's not using a QWERTY keyboard overseas?)
When she's done, it must be printed and then scanned to be emailed back to be faxed (!) via FVAP, who will fax it to the right place - her county board of elections. The email address to do this is fax@fvap.gov. She should email the WHOLE document, not just the ballot.
After a few days, perhaps have her check https://california.ballottrax.net/voter/ which is the state's official ballot-tracking site. My postal ballot got there about three weeks ago. More info for CA voters overseas here: https://www.fvap.gov/guide/chapter2/california
Good luck! It's doable and with normal stationery basically free, but definitely more of a hassle than it should be.
posted by mdonley at 3:32 PM on October 10, 2020 [9 favorites]
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If the ballot envelope fits inside a Priority Mail envelope or a FedEx envelope, you can send it just like anything else.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 2:29 PM on October 10, 2020