By Barbara H-M and Frauke R-H

Originally published in Currents, December 2003/January 2004
Copyright © 2003-2004 AWC Hamburg
 

Urgent News on Voting in the U.S.

“It's Your Future. VOTE For It!” is the winning voting slogan this year, and some of us can start right now. Several of the states have early Presidential Preference Primaries scheduled (see list below). To be able to vote in them you must register (if necessary) and request your ballot before the end of 2003. To do this, you should fill in a Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) as per the instructions for your state that are in the Voting Assistance Guide (VAG). At this writing, the new VAG has not yet been published. Use the old one. Your FAWCO Rep can help you; or you can yourself get help online by going to the website of the Federal Voting Assistance Program www.fvap.gov.

The early primaries are:
   Washington, DC: Jan 13
   New Hampshire: Jan 27
   Arizona: Feb 3
   Delaware: Feb 3
   Missouri: Feby 3 (Submit FPCA not earlier than Dec 22)
   Oklahoma: Feb 3
   South Carolina: Feb 3
   Tennessee: Feb 10 (Submit FPCA not earlier than Nov 5)
   Virginia: Feb 10
   Wisconsin: Feb 17

Very important: To vote again in these states in the General Election of November 2, 2004, you must send in another completed FPCA after January 1, 2004.

This information comes from Kathy Webster, the FAWCO Chair of Voting-from-Overseas, who got it from the Federal Voting Assistance Program, which many of you may have also received.