A call to action (a reminder for those who read Saturday’s post).
FAWCO has posted an excellent summary of two key bills impacting American voters abroad that the House will mark-up on Wednesday. FAWCO’s call to action includes a sample letter to members of Congress in support of these measures. What is more, FAWCO provides a concise overview of the legislation.
The bills will be marked-up on Wednesday so please send your letters of support as soon as possible — Wednesday morning at the latest.
From Overseas Vote Foundation:
U.S. Senate Runoff Election – Vote Now!
Due to a very close Senate race in the state of Georgia, a statewide Runoff Election will be held on December 2, 2008 to determine the winner of Georgia’s U.S. Senate seat.
Act Now to Cast Your Ballot in this Runoff Election
Overseas Vote Foundation (OVF) is pleased to inform you that the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot from OVF will be accepted as your ballot in this Senate Runoff election.
The Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot from OVF is a Vote-Print-Mail Ballot system for generating your ballot. The system will guide you through the GA state-specific questions and will present you with the candidate list for the GA State U.S. Senate Runoff Election. You can simply point, click, vote and then print your ballot for faxing and mailing.
- Postmark deadline: Tuesday, December 2, 2008
- Ballot arrival deadline: Friday, December 5, 2008
The OVF Vote-Print-Mail Ballot system will produce the proper ballot documents and provide you with complete instructions including your Georgia county election office mailing address and your election official contact information.
Important: the printed, signed Voter’s Declaration and Affirmation page and your paper ballot must be sent back to your GA election office by postal mail or courier to be valid and counted. Act fast to get your ballot back to your election office immediately!
Questions: look up your election official in the OVF Election Official Directory, or contact the OVF Voter Help Desk at voterhelpdesk@overseasvotefoundation.org.
State Option: The OVF Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot is for the U.S. Senate election only. If you would like to vote in statewide elections as well, you may opt to use the Georgia State Write-in Absentee Ballot:
If you use the SWAB, you may vote for the following:
U.S. Senate Candidates:
- C. Saxby Chambliss – Republican
- James Martin – Democrat
Public Service Commission Candidates, District 4 – Northern:
- Lauren W. McDonald Jr. – Republican
- Jim Powell – Democrat
Appeals Court Judge Candidates:
- Sara Doyle – Non-Partisan
- Mike Sheffield – Non-Partisan
Important Links:
Overseas Vote Foundation: www.overseasvotefoundation.org
OVF Vote-Print-Mail Ballot: https://www.overseasvotefoundation.org/overseas/FwabStart.htm
Georgia Secretary of State Elections Division: http://www.sos.ga.gov/elections
Wired has a nice breakdown of how the Democrats Abroad Global Presidential Primary works. Voting began yesterday and runs through next Tuesday, February 12. I voted using the Democrats Abroad online process yesterday and it was simple and, I felt, secure — plus it allowed me to print out a confirmation of my vote, though I could not save it electronically as a PDF. The system is run by Everyone Counts and they claim that their security is tighter than that at ordinary polling places and that they monitor the voting. Wired, writer Nicole Martinelli interviewed Everyone Counts CEO Lori Steele who pointed out that they require three forms of information: personal data, a ballot number and a PIN.
After reading about hackers breaking into all manner of secure systems for the past two decades, I assume that nothing online is 100% secure. But, as we’ve learned over the past few years, electronic voting in live polling places back home can be insecure as well. That said, if all goes well with this first global e-vote, I’m hopeful we might be able to vote in general elections using such methods in the not too distant future.
Continuing to break new ground and prepare the way for greater overseas voter participation in the U.S. electoral process, Overseas Vote Foundation (“OVF”) announced the launch of its State Hosted Systems Program (“SHS”). Under this program, Alabama, Minnesota, and Ohio have launched customized, state-of-the-art, web-based, interactive voter registration services. The sites were developed by OVF, with the support of the JEHT Foundation, which granted both development support for OVF’s SHS Program and support to reduce costs for states to adopt the SHS program in 2008.
The SHS program enables states to provide these new voter registration services at a fraction of the cost of the manual and error-filled process used in previous election cycles. It is a true, “win-win” as it saves taxpayer money while providing Americans abroad with improved access to voting services.
For those of you not yet aware of OVF, it exists to assist uniformed and overseas American citizens in registering to vote. The Pew Charitable Trusts has provided grant support to OVF to develop its voter services.
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