By:
Matthew R. Mahre – Lehman, Lee & Xu
The recently announced Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act makes voting easier for Americans residing abroad. Starting with the November 2010 general election, states are now required to mail ballots to qualifying voters forty-five days prior to an election for federal office. Additionally, states are also required to provide voters with registration forms, absentee ballot request forms, and blank ballots via fax or email at the voter’s request. It is the states decision whether to accept returned ballots by fax or email. It is also now within the states discretion to determine how long a single ballot request is valid for, and may require voters to submit a ballot request for every election. Prior law required all states to continue to send ballots for two general election cycles, even if the address was determined to be invalid. The Department of State has recommended all U.S. voters residing abroad request absentee ballots every January and immediately notify their officials of any address changes. The new law is will both increase the simplicity of overseas voting, and reduce the volume of voting materials sent abroad to locations where Americans no longer reside.
For further details and specific state requirements, visit
www.fvap.org
.