By Frauke R-H

Originally published in Currents, June/July 2004
Copyright © 2004-2005 AWC Hamburg
 

On April 23, a press release from the U.S. Consulate General went out to the Hamburg media announcing our voter registration drive for U.S. citizens on April 26 at the Marriott Hotel. It explained in German why U.S. citizens planning to vote in the General Election on November 2, 2004, need to register at such an early date. It also explained the procedure of an FPCA (Federal Post Card Application), which – when completed and submitted now – will automatically send voters a ballot for the November General Election to their German address, allowing them to vote absentee from overseas.

Some daily papers reported the message. The Hamburg 1 TV station sent their camera team and the radio station Hamburg 90,3 recorded and broadcast interviews with the AWCH voter assistant team, the consulate and with visitors registering.

The consulate general had included our AWCH flyer on the voter registration drive to all recipients of mail from the consulate. The American Club of Hamburg forwarded our flyer to its members; the International School of Hamburg, Smith College alumnae, the AWCH website and the American Views Abroad journal used our flyer to inform people of the free guidance and support in completing and submitting the FPCA. The consulate general offered free mailing to the U.S. and to top it all off, the Marriott Restaurant offered a special voter registration lunch. In addition, the Marriott Hotel generously sponsored the conference rooms and service team support! Twenty ladies from the AWCH and the consulate volunteered time for training to become official voter assistants and to be at the Marriott Hotel for the voter registration. Simone Baer, consul and notary, and Ute Pollex from the consulate general provided support for notarization and for special questions. Our sincere thanks go out to all the supporters mentioned above.

Well over 100 U.S. citizens used our free service on April 26, representing 22 states with the majority voting in California, Illinois, Virginia, Texas and New York. Many additional FPCAs were taken home for other U.S. citizens. I received several requests to send the FPCA via mail to citizens not able to attend the Marriott meeting. Most of our voter assistant team members have the voter registration guide and FPCAs and are willing to assist others in completing and submitting the cards.

Register to vote . . . then do it!