As I wrote last year, I was surprised to discover that clicking on the AnnualCreditReport.com link from abroad still returns the following error message:
The AnnualCreditReport.com website is only accessible through ISPs (Internet Service Providers) located within the United States and its territories.
This still surprises me because I am a US citizen and I pay US taxes. And the federal law requiring free annual credit reports (the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (the so-called “FACT Act”)) covers all Americans. Why do the credit bureaus continue to discriminate against the millions of Americans living overseas?
Are you following the health care reform debate in the US? If you live abroad you should be.
Some current drafts require Americans abroad to pay additional taxes, an excise tax, if they don’t have health insurance back home.
Federal Voting Assistance Program- News Release # 17 October 19, 2009
Courts back Military & Overseas Voters
U.S. District Court Opinion in Favor of Counting Late Absentee Virginia Ballots for the 2008 General Election!
October 19, 2009 – Arlington, VA
A federal district court in Richmond, Va. ruled yesterday that Virginia violated the voting rights of American military personnel and other overseas citizens by failing to mail absentee ballots in sufficient time for them to be counted in the Nov. 4, 2008, general election.
Ruling in a 2008 lawsuit by the Justice Department, U.S. District Court Judge Richard L. Williams declared that Virginia’s failure to mail more than 2,000 absentee ballots at least 30 days prior to the election violated the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), a federal law that guarantees military personnel and other citizens living abroad the right to vote by absentee ballot in federal elections. The Department of Justice press release can be found at http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/October/09-crt-1114.html.
The Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) is pleased with the decision of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to count absentee ballots received by certain Virginia counties for the November 4, 2008 general election.
The decision reaffirms the importance of every vote, and upholds the confidence of our military and overseas citizens who participate in the electoral process.
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If you’d like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Director Bob Carey, please call Maj April Cunningham with DoD Public Affairs at 703-697-5131 or email Maj Cunningham at april.cunningham@osd.mil. If you’d like more information on the DoD Federal Voting Assistance Program or need help with the absentee voting process please contact the FVAP at 703-588-1584 (toll free 1-800-438-VOTE) or email the program at VOTE@FVAP.NCR.GOV.
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New York District 23 – Get Ready for the November 3, 2009 Special Election
On Tuesday, November 3, 2009 New York will hold a special State election to fill the congressional vacancy left by the appointment of Army Secretary John McHugh. A list of candidates will be available after October 14, 2009 at http://www.elections.state.ny.us. The 23rd Congressional District includes the following counties: Clinton, Franklin, Jefferson, Hamilton, Lewis, Madison, Oswego, St. Lawrence, and parts of Essex, Fulton and Oneida Counties. Look up your voter registration and find your polling place https://voterlookup.elections.state.ny.us/votersearch.aspx
Request Your Ballot
If you do not have an absentee ballot request on file, you need to fill one out as soon as possible. The Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) ballot application and instructions are available at www.fvap.gov. If you are eligible to vote in this election, and requested and received a ballot for last year’s presidential election, you will automatically receive an absentee ballot. You can check your registration status at https://voterlookup.elections.state.ny.us/votersearch.aspx. Your absentee ballot application needs to be postmarked by October 27, 2009.
Receive and Return Your Ballot
Ballots will not be available until at the earliest October 14, 2009. If a list of candidates has been certified by this date, local election officials will begin mailing ballots beginning October 14, 2009.
Ballots must be postmarked no later than the day before Election Day (11/2/09) and are due back to your local election official by November 16, 2009.
NOTE: Because there are only 32 days for your ballot to reach you and for you to vote it, we are highly recommending that you use the Federal Write in Absentee Ballot (FWAB) once a list of candidates is made available. You can find an online version of the FWAB and New York instructions on how to fill out and submit the form are available at www.fvap.gov.
For More Information: Go to the New York State Board of Election website at http://www.elections.state.ny.us/ or visit FVAP at: www.fvap.gov.
FVAP has released the 2008 Survey Methods and invites questions and comments from academics and others.
October 5, 2009 – Arlington, VA – The Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) is pre-releasing its 2008 Post-Election Survey methods and questions and is inviting election officials, military and overseas voting advocates and members of academia to review FVAPs methods for statistical reliability and that they meet the industry standards.
FVAP is required by law to conduct these surveys after every Presidential election and report specifically on the effectiveness of assistance provided by FVAP to military and overseas citizens, an analysis of Uniformed Services and overseas nonmilitary voter participation, and a description of State-federal cooperation.
However, the greatest public interest has been in the statistical analyses of voter participation rates. With that interest has also been significant criticism of the statistical methods used in previous surveys, especially the 2004 survey. In response to that criticism, FVAP engaged the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) to incorporate FVAP’s survey questions into its annual Status of Forces Survey (SOFS), a well-respected, widely accepted survey methodology for assessing military personnel issues, and marks a substantial improvement in the methodology used for FVAP’s 2008 voting survey.
The early release of this section of the 2008 final report is done so that the UOCAVA voting community, other government agencies, and interested professionals can review the survey’s methodology in advance of the final survey analysis and report writing. It is FVAP’s hope that this cycle of surveys will set a new benchmark for analyzing military voting participation, and that the early release of the survey methodology and questions will help identify any remaining statistical issues before issuing the final report, and to address many of the criticisms raised regarding the 2004 and prior surveys. Specifically, a DMDC Survey Note is also being released describing the key statistical methodological differences between the 2004 and 2008 surveys.
FVAP Director Bob Carey invited interested observers to critically assess the 2008 Survey methodology, “Broad public acceptance of the statistical methods underlying this survey is crucial to public acceptance of their results. I invite the academic community, election officials, and the UOCAVA voting advocacy community to take a ‘wire-brush’ to our methods and tell us where we can improve, before we write the final report.” Comments can be submitted to FVAP’s Survey Manager erin.stpierre@fvap.ncr.gov by October 26th, 2009.
All methods can be found at http://www.fvap.gov/reference/18threport.html.
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California to Hold a Special Primary Election on September 1, 2009, for Candidates for Representative in Congress from the 10th District
On Tuesday, September 1, 2009, there will be a special primary election in the 10th Congressional District of California to determine the political parties’ candidates to appear on the ballot for a special general election to be held on Tuesday, November 3, 2009, to fill the seat vacated by Representative Ellen O. Tauscher. If one candidate receives a majority of the votes (50% + 1) in the special primary election, no special general election will be held. To determine if your legal residence is in the 10th Congressional District, click on http://www.fvap.gov/reference/electoff.html and then on “United States House of Representatives.”
Voting Assistance Officers (VAOs) should contact those citizens who are California voters and inform them of this news release and assist them in requesting and returning their absentee ballot.
DEADLINES:
For September 1, 2009 Primary-
Absentee Voter Registration: August 17, 2009
Ballot Request for Registered Voters: August 25, 2009
Ballot Return: September 1, 2009
For November 3, 2009 General-
Absentee Voter Registration: October 19, 2009
Ballot Request for Registered Voter: October 27, 2009
Ballot Return: November 3, 2009
REGISTERING TO VOTE AND REQUESTING A BALLOT:
All members of the U.S. Uniformed Services, their family members and citizens residing outside the U.S. who are California residents within the 10th District must request a ballot for this special election by completing and submitting a registration and ballot request, Federal Post Card Application (FPCA), SF-76, by August 17, 2009, if they have not done so already in calendar year 2009. The online version of the FPCA is available from the FVAP at www.fvap.gov. The FPCA may be submitted by fax or email in addition to regular mail. County Election Office information is available at http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_d.htm.
Your county elections official must receive the request for an absentee ballot not later than Tuesday, August 25, 2009.
Voters who are California residents within the 10th District, who requested and received a ballot for the Federal General Election on November 4, 2008, will automatically receive a special election ballot, and need not take any further action unless their mailing address has changed.
California law allows members of the U.S. Uniformed Services and their family members to send the FPCA for registration and ballot request by fax. After faxing, submit the original FPCA by mail. The faxed FPCA must include a Transmittal Cover Sheet, which may be found at www.fvap.gov/resources/media/coversheet.pdf. If you are unable to get normal mail delivery, use the California State Special Absentee Voter Ballot. It is available up to 60 days before the election to any voter unable to vote in the regular absentee voting process due to military or other contingencies. To request it, write: “I cannot vote an absentee ballot during the normal absentee voting period due to military or other contingencies that preclude normal mail delivery. [Specify reason(s).] I request a special absentee ballot.” Or contact your County Election Office.
You can fax directly to your local elections office. Fax numbers can be found at: http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_d.htm or by using the following toll-free fax numbers through FVAP for the U.S. and Canada:
1-800-368-8683, (703) 693-5527 or DSN 223-5527 (military). At www.fvap.gov/contact/tollfreefax.html, there is a list of additional toll-free fax numbers from overseas countries.
To ensure delivery by the deadline, MPSA recommends military voters putting your ballot in the mail by August 17, 2009 for OEF/OIF locations and August 22, 2009 for other overseas locations. Overseas citizens should return their ballot as soon as possible to allow adequate transit time.
RETURNING YOUR BALLOT:
California allows overseas Uniformed Service Members and overseas citizens to return ballots by mail or fax. If returning the marked ballot by fax, you must complete and sign the Transmittal Cover Sheet found including the acknowledgment that they are waiving their right to cast their ballots secretly at www.fvap.gov/resources/media/coversheet.pdf. Your ballot will be counted if it is returned by close of polls (8:00 p.m. PST) on September 1, 2009.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
State specific information on your precinct, candidates, elections, and voting is available at the California Secretary of State’s website at: www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_mov.htm.
The FVAP can be contacted via 1-800-438-8683. Citizens may reach the FVAP toll-free from 67 countries using the toll-free numbers listed on the FVAP website, www.fvap.gov/contact/tollfreephone.html. Questions may be referred to the Director, Federal Voting Assistance Program, Department of Defense, 1155 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-1155 or: vote@fvap.ncr.gov. Visit the FVAP website at www.fvap.gov.
Please support H.R. 1739 — Overseas Voting Practical Amendments Act of 2009. This legislation standardizes the Federal absentee voting process for UOCAVA voters. Significantly, H.R. 1739:
- Harmonizes the implementation of UOCAVA across all states
- Prohibits refusal of duly completed materials generated by computer
- Allows overseas voters to register once and receive ballots on an ongoing basis
- Eliminate notarization requirements
- Ensures that citizens born overseas who have never lived in the US can vote using the previous domicile of the American parent(s)
- Requires prompt notification of rejection of a ballot request so the voter has a chance to correct registration issues before Election Day
Did you have problems voting in the 2008 Presidential election? For example:
- Were you unable to vote because you have never lived in the US?
- Were you removed from the electoral rolls?
- Were your forms were rejected because of the type of paper used?
- Did you find out too late that their registration or ballot were not accepted?
If this applies to you or anyone you know, please draft a letter of support for H.R. 1739.
Please mail your letters to:
Hon. Robert A. Brady
Chairman, Committee on House Administration
US House of Representatives
1309 Longworth Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515AND
Hon. Daniel Lungren
Ranking Member, Committee on House Administration, Republican Office
US House of Representatives 1313 Longworth Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
American Citizens Abroad has published an excellent history of the taxtaion of Americans living overseas. If you’d like to read it, click here.
It’s an off election year, and the excitement of the 2008 presidential race is behind us, but the important work of ensuring and strengthening our right to vote goes on. Please support the Overseas Vote Foundation in its work on behalf of all Americans abroad.
Absentee voting fix not enough, advocates say – Army News, news from Iraq, – Army Times
A bill to improve overseas voting passed the House Administration Committee, but voting rights advocates say a more comprehensive fix is required.
According to the Army Times, the Military Voting Protection Act, HR 2393 introduced by Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) would establish an express mail collection system for sending cast ballots back to state election officials. The bill also:
- establishes a tracking system that would allow service members to find out whether their ballot had been delivered
- requires the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) to set a deadline for receiving absentee ballots of noon on the fourth day before federal elections, beginning with the November 2010 elections — if necessary, the deadline could be set earlier
- makes FVAP officials responsible for collecting ballots and delivering them to the states via express mail
- requires FVAP to submit a report to Congress after each general election on the effectiveness of the system
Susan Dzieduszycka-Suinat, president of the Overseas Vote Foundation notes that sending the ballot back to the US is the last step in the absentee voting process and that:
The irresistible urge to focus on the last step of the process, the step that is held hostage by all others that precede it, is an unfortunate distraction if it is the only measure taken in the face of other very real remaining challenges. Speeding the return of the voted ballot won’t help much if the voter’s request for the ballot is late and if is/her ballot does not show up in time to be cast.
A comprehensive approach is necessary. Please contact your state’s Congressional delegation and make your voice heard on thios critical issue.
