voting in different state?
November 4, 2024 12:18 PM   Subscribe

We are registered voters in California, residing in Vancouver, BC, Canada. We're thinking of driving down to Bellingham WA to vote tomorrow. Is that possible? How would it work?

We have received a ballot package but wouldn't be able to mail it back for it to be received in time.
posted by wutangclan to Society & Culture (15 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
Washington offers same-day voter registration even on Election Day. But would you be able to price any kind of residence there? It sounds like not.

Overall I don't think what you are looking for is possible and I suggest you overnight-ship the completed package today.
posted by knile at 12:21 PM on November 4 [3 favorites]


States have no way to get your vote to another state. In addition, most states require you to bring an absentee in to a local elections office, usually by county or city, so just going to the nearest place in CA may not work either.
posted by advicepig at 12:23 PM on November 4 [4 favorites]


For CA residents:

Vote-by-mail ballots that are mailed must be postmarked on or before Election Day and received by your county elections office no later than 7 days after Election Day.
If you are not sure your vote-by-mail ballot will arrive in time if mailed, bring it to any polling place in the state between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on Election Day.


I would expect that if you mailed your ballot within the United States tomorrow (i.e., after driving across the border), it would reach your county elections office by the deadline. International mail would be more iffy.
posted by praemunire at 12:26 PM on November 4 [14 favorites]


Response by poster: Unfortunately, I’m reading that the Republican-supermajority Supreme Court has recently ruled against mail-in ballots received after election day (even if received before the mail-in deadline). If this is incorrect, please let me know.
posted by wutangclan at 12:40 PM on November 4


Best answer: You can fax in your ballot in California (although you waive your right to secrecy in this case because you can't seal a fax). I have done this many times and it has always worked (you can sign up for ballot-tracking notifications so you know your vote has been counted).

Look on the instructions that came with your ballot. I don't have mine anymore but I know this is possible.
posted by number9dream at 12:42 PM on November 4 [8 favorites]


Response by poster: We’ll try to fax it!!!
posted by wutangclan at 12:49 PM on November 4 [2 favorites]


Best answer: If this is incorrect, please let me know.

I believe it is incorrect. One appeals court in the South ruled that way but the issue has not, so far as I'm aware, hit the Supreme Court yet. The California vote-by-mail instructions, which would be updated if the law changed, say what praemunire says they do.
posted by bac at 12:50 PM on November 4 [10 favorites]


I’m reading that the Republican-supermajority Supreme Court has recently ruled against mail-in ballots received after election day (even if received before the mail-in deadline).

This is not the case. The situation is (as of now) as bac described it, and please don't take any further guidance from people who lack the capacity to distinguish between appeals and Supreme Court rulings. In your situation, I would cross the border and mail it (presumably in WA, and for speed of transmission, probably Seattle itself).
posted by praemunire at 1:03 PM on November 4 [6 favorites]


To be safer it could be worth driving to WA and faxing it from there so that the fax comes from a US area code.
posted by mareli at 1:05 PM on November 4 [1 favorite]


The ruling to which you refer was from the 5th Circuit Court; it applies only to Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, and the ruling was regarding a Mississippi law. In no way does it apply to your situation, based on what you told us. I'm sure my own state of Washington, which is more or less 100% mail-in, would be fighting such a ruling tooth and nail if it applied way out here in the 9th Circuit region (which also includes CA).

Also, it may not even apply to this election; the Supreme Court in 2006 proscribed making last-minute changes to election laws (Purcell v. Gonzalez). Should be some interesting court filings in the next year on this.
posted by Sunburnt at 1:25 PM on November 4 [2 favorites]


Best answer: About this:
To be safer it could be worth driving to WA and faxing it from there so that the fax comes from a US area code.
I see that I wasn't clear about this in my post above, but I have been voting by fax from Canada for years, and as long as you send it to the correct fax number and fill in the ballot oath properly, your vote will be counted. No need to drive to the US to send a fax.

Pro tip: if you have a multifunction printer and a land line, you may even be able to do this without leaving the comfort of your own home. Otherwise you can go to a print shop or Staples or wherever else you can find a fax machine.
posted by number9dream at 1:38 PM on November 4 [6 favorites]


Best answer: I reside in Mexico and have voted, this year and other years, by emailing my completed ballot package to fax@fvap.gov. This is a service for military personnel and US citizens who live abroad and have no convenient access to a fax service. I just received confirmation from fax@fvap.gov that they have received my ballot materials, and expect to receive confirmation soon from Santa Barbara County that they have in turn received a fax of my ballot from fax@fvap.gov. This procedure may vary by county in California, so be sure to check the info from the county where you are registered.

Naturally, you waive your right to a private ballot by using this method.
posted by bricoleur at 2:46 PM on November 4 [8 favorites]


To be safer it could be worth driving to WA and faxing it from there so that the fax comes from a US area code.

Do not do this.

Californians who live in the US CANNOT vote by fax. Faxing your vote is for military or overseas voters only. It is perfectly correct for OP to do that from Canada. Doing it from America is not allowed.

You're fine to fax it. Every Californian I know who found themselves in Canada during an election -- a lot of them, because of how many TV shows film in Vancouver -- faxed it.
posted by Countess Sandwich at 3:01 PM on November 4 [11 favorites]


Call a California Voter Line, there will be something. Maine overseas voters voted via the web, so, maybe you can do that.
posted by theora55 at 7:25 PM on November 4


VoteFromAbroad.org should have answers for most people living abroad.
posted by dobbs at 5:16 AM on November 5


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