Absentee ballot
Encyclopedia
An absentee ballot is a vote cast by someone who is unable or unwilling to attend the official polling station
. Numerous methods have been devised to facilitate this. Increasing the ease of access to absentee ballots are seen by many as one way to improve voter turnout
, though some countries require that a valid reason, such as infirmity or travel, be given before a voter can participate in an absentee ballot.
, by authorizing them to cast or secure their vote in their stead. The proxy must be trusted by the voter, as in a secret ballot
there is no way of verifying that they voted for the correct candidate. In an attempt to solve this, it is not uncommon for people to nominate an official of their chosen party as their proxy.
Internet voting systems have been used privately in many modern nations and publicly in the United States
, France
, the UK
, Switzerland
and Estonia
. Several cantons (Geneva
, Neuchâtel
and Zürich
) have run pilot programs to allow citizens to vote via the Internet since 2001. or by SMS
. Approval of the pilot experience has led to the expansion of the program to include an additional canton and Swiss living abroad. voters obtain their passwords to access the ballot through the postal service. Most voters in Estonia
can cast their vote in local and parliamentary elections, if they want to, via the Internet, as most of those on the electoral roll have access to an e-voting system. It has been assisted by the fact that most Estonians carry a national identity card equipped with a computer-readable microchip and it is these cards which they use to get access to the online ballot. All a voter needs is a computer, an electronic card reader, their ID card and its PIN, and they can vote from anywhere in the world. Estonian e-votes can only be cast during the days of advance voting. On Election Day itself people have to go to polling stations and fill in a paper ballot.
Texas law allows American astronauts who cannot vote in person and are unable to vote via absentee ballot such as those aboard the International Space Station
and Mir
space station cast their ballots electronically, via email, from orbit since 1997. Ballots sent via secure email to the Johnson Spaceflight Center and then passed on the astronauts' home counties in Texas.
elections, postal votes are available on demand. The requirement for an excuse has been removed in 2008 for elections on the federal level.
Section 20 of the RPA-1950 disqualifies a non-resident Indian (NRI) from getting his/her name registered in the electoral rolls. Consequently, it also prevents an NRI from casting his/her vote in elections to the Parliament and to the State Legislatures . In August 2010, Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill-2010 which allows voting rights to NRI's was passed in both Lok Sabha with subsequent gazette notifications on Nov 24, 2010. With this NRI's will now be able to vote in Indian elections but have to be physically present at the time of voting. Recently several civic society organizations have urged the government to amend the RPA act to allow NRI's and people on the move to cast their vote through absentee ballot system.
, postal votes are only available in a restricted set of circumstances. The Irish constitution
requires a secret ballot and the courts have interpreted this quite narrowly. Postal votes are available to people who by reason of their occupation, cannot vote normally. They are also available to students living away from home, to people with disabilities, to prisoners (since January 2007), and to long term residents of hospitals, nursing homes and other similar institutions.
does not have an absentee ballot system for all citizens. Absentee ballots are restricted to soldiers, prisoners, sailors, overseas diplomats, disabled persons and hospitalized people. The votes are not cast directly but placed in a double envelope with identifying information and counted directly by the elections committee only after verifying that the voter has not voted at his official polling station. Most absentee ballots are cast the day of the elections in alternate polling stations. Early voting is limited to civil servants overseas. There is no postal voting.
, liberalised proxy voting is available. Voters can authorise someone else to cast their ballot without having to go through a registration procedure. Voters can cast a maximum of 2 proxy votes along with their own ballot. Postal ballots and Internet voting are only available to Dutch citizens living abroad, or having occupational duties abroad on election day.
, absentee voting in Philippine elections is only available in certain circumstances, such as Overseas Filipino Workers or other migrants. Votes must be cast in person at select polling places, such as a consulate office. There are mail-in written ballots only in select countries. Local absentee voting as pursuant to Republic Act No. 7166 and Executive Order No. 157 is only available for members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines
and the Philippine National Police
and government personnel on duty on election day. The absentee voting in both overseas and local is still manual vote counting system.
Recently, absentee voting in Hong Kong
and Singapore
was done through the optical scan voting
due to COMELEC Resolution No. 8806 in the last general elections
in 2010.
in all federal elections and referenda, and all cantons also allow it for cantonal ballot issues. All voters receive their personal ballot by mail and may either cast it at a polling station or mail it back.
elections, postal votes are available on demand – no reason must be given – although a vote rigging scandal involving postal votes marred the 2005 Birmingham
local election.
In the United States
, an absentee ballot is a ballot
that the voter records and casts at a location other than the designated polling station on Election Day. Typically these ballots are mail
ed, though some states provide provisions for email
ing ballots, fax
ing ballots, or delivering them in person to a designated location. Typically a voter must request an absentee ballot at least a week before the election occurs. Each State's Secretary of State or Director of Elections is in charge of the election process, including voter registration and absentee ballot requests. Balloting materials may be sent via the United States Postal Service without prepayment of postage for members of the Armed Forces, members of the U.S. Merchant Marine and U.S. citizens residing outside the territorial limits of the United States and the District of Columbia and their spouses.
Absentee voting by mail is allowed with no excuse in 28 states, and with an excuse in 22. No-excuse permanent absentee voting is allowed in 4 states. Contrary to the map at left, Wisconsin
allows no-excuse early voting. Early voting in person is allowed with no excuse required in 31 U.S. state
s, with an excuse in 3, and not at all in 16. The District of Columbia requires an excuse for both early voting and absentee voting.
Voters (usually) mark their ballots, which may be an optically read ballot marked with a pen or pencil, or may be a punched card ballot. They then mail the ballot to the state, or may bring the ballot in person to a designated location.
Each state has different laws regulating when absentee ballots must be counted, and who does the counting. Most states count absentee ballots on Election Day which can continue for several days after. The latest deadline is 10 days after Election day (for Washington, D.C.
, and for overseas absentee ballots sent to Florida
.)
American citizens who are overseas, including active members of the military, are covered by the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act
that, among other things, provides for a Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot
which may be used in place of absentee ballots provided under state laws. The Federal Voting Assistance Program
is a government program that assists such voters and exercises other authority under this act.
and Washington are unique in regards to the rest of the nation, in that voting is conducted entirely by mail.
The ballot in the Oregon
is mailed to all residents, who are then supposed to fill out the ballot and either mail it back to the elections official or bring it to a drop box. The term "absentee ballot" in Oregon refers to mailing the ballot to the county elections official, and not merely to receiving the ballot in the mail. As with most states, Oregon residents must register in advance to be able to vote via absentee ballot.
Like Oregon, the State of Washington conducts all elections via vote-by-mail. Originally, absentee ballots in Washington were mailed prior to election day to those voters who contacted their local county by indicating that they would be unable to vote at their local polling place on election day.
In 1993, the state began allowing all voters to vote by mail on a permanent basis. Since that time, voting by mail had gained in popularity, and the term "absentee ballot" had become synonymous with voting by mail. According to the Secretary of State, in 2006, over 88% of all voters cast votes using the vote-by-mail method. By then, many counties had made the switch to conducting their elections entirely by mail. The state's two largest counties (in terms of number of voters), King and Pierce, were the last two counties in the state to switch to all-mail voting. When the King County Council approved the switch in 2009, the county became the largest in the nation, in terms of number of voters, where elections are conducted entirely by mail. Pierce County's resistance to making the change led to action by the Washington State Legislature in 2011 that required the county to be in line with the rest of the state, thus making the entire state a "vote-by-mail" state.
Many counties provide drop boxes throughout the county to allow voters to drop off their ballot on or prior to election day, rather than paying postage by sending it through the mail. Ballots returned by mail need only be postmarked by election date, resulting in ballots being received by election officials over several days following an actual election.
's Secretary of State has reported that in every general election since 1993, between 20% and 30% of ballots cast have been absentee ballots.
, any voter may cast an absentee ballot and is not required to give a reason. They must fill out an application, available from the Secretary of State
or their town clerk, and turn it in by hand or mail. They are then given or mailed a ballot, which must be returned to the town clerk by hand or by mail before the polls close on Election Day
.
Absentee Ballot applications are available at http://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/absent.htm. Ballots may be requested up to three months before an election. The ballots are available 30 to 45 days before an election. Maine voters can find their town at http://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/clerk.htm.
voter may vote by absentee ballot. Voters are not required to provide a reason for voting via absentee ballot.
voter may vote by absentee ballot. Absentee ballots are available for primary and general elections six weeks prior to the election. Absentee ballots for city and school elections are available several weeks prior to the election.
To receive a ballot by mail, a voter must file a written application for an absentee ballot with the person in charge of the election. The application must be mailed or hand delivered to the person in charge of the election. The application cannot be submitted by fax. The voter's signature on the application must be notarized or witnessed by an official who will deliver the ballot to the voter. An application for a ballot by authorized messenger must be received by the person in charge of the election before 3:00 p.m. the day of the election.
The voter must sign a statement on the absentee ballot envelope prior to returning the ballot. All voted ballots must be returned to the person in charge of the election in time to be delivered to the appropriate polling place prior to the closing of the polls.
legislature passed a bill allowing residents to cast absentee ballots from space, because of the presence of the NASA
Johnson Space Center and the astronauts that live in the Houston metropolitan area.
Polling station
A polling place or polling station is where voters cast their ballots in elections.Since elections generally take place over a one- or two-day span on a periodic basis, often annual or longer, polling places are often located in facilities used for other purposes, such as schools, churches, sports...
. Numerous methods have been devised to facilitate this. Increasing the ease of access to absentee ballots are seen by many as one way to improve voter turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...
, though some countries require that a valid reason, such as infirmity or travel, be given before a voter can participate in an absentee ballot.
Postal voting
In a postal vote, the ballot papers are posted out to the voter – usually only on request – who must then fill them out and return them, often with some form of certification by a witness and their signature to prove their identity.Proxy voting
To cast a proxy vote, the user appoints someone as their proxyProxy voting
Proxy voting has two forms: delegable voting and delegated voting, which are procedures for the delegation to another member of a voting body of that member's power to vote in his absence, and/or for the selection of additional representatives, as in the case with transitive proxies...
, by authorizing them to cast or secure their vote in their stead. The proxy must be trusted by the voter, as in a secret ballot
Secret ballot
The secret ballot is a voting method in which a voter's choices in an election or a referendum are anonymous. The key aim is to ensure the voter records a sincere choice by forestalling attempts to influence the voter by intimidation or bribery. The system is one means of achieving the goal of...
there is no way of verifying that they voted for the correct candidate. In an attempt to solve this, it is not uncommon for people to nominate an official of their chosen party as their proxy.
Internet voting
Corporations and organizations routinely use Internet voting to elect officers and Board members and for other proxy elections.Internet voting systems have been used privately in many modern nations and publicly in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
. Several cantons (Geneva
Canton of Geneva
The Republic and Canton of Geneva is the French speaking westernmost canton or state of Switzerland, surrounded on almost all sides by France. As is the case in several other Swiss cantons The Republic and Canton of Geneva is the French speaking westernmost canton or state of Switzerland,...
, Neuchâtel
Canton of Neuchâtel
Neuchâtel is a canton of French speaking western Switzerland. In 2007, its population was 169,782 of which 39,654 were foreigners. The capital is Neuchâtel.-History:...
and Zürich
Canton of Zürich
The Canton of Zurich has a population of . The canton is located in the northeast of Switzerland and the city of Zurich is its capital. The official language is German, but people speak the local Swiss German dialect called Züritüütsch...
) have run pilot programs to allow citizens to vote via the Internet since 2001. or by SMS
Short message service
Short Message Service is a text messaging service component of phone, web, or mobile communication systems, using standardized communications protocols that allow the exchange of short text messages between fixed line or mobile phone devices...
. Approval of the pilot experience has led to the expansion of the program to include an additional canton and Swiss living abroad. voters obtain their passwords to access the ballot through the postal service. Most voters in Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
can cast their vote in local and parliamentary elections, if they want to, via the Internet, as most of those on the electoral roll have access to an e-voting system. It has been assisted by the fact that most Estonians carry a national identity card equipped with a computer-readable microchip and it is these cards which they use to get access to the online ballot. All a voter needs is a computer, an electronic card reader, their ID card and its PIN, and they can vote from anywhere in the world. Estonian e-votes can only be cast during the days of advance voting. On Election Day itself people have to go to polling stations and fill in a paper ballot.
Texas law allows American astronauts who cannot vote in person and are unable to vote via absentee ballot such as those aboard the International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
and Mir
Mir
Mir was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, at first by the Soviet Union and then by Russia. Assembled in orbit from 1986 to 1996, Mir was the first modular space station and had a greater mass than that of any previous spacecraft, holding the record for the...
space station cast their ballots electronically, via email, from orbit since 1997. Ballots sent via secure email to the Johnson Spaceflight Center and then passed on the astronauts' home counties in Texas.
Germany
In all GermanGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
elections, postal votes are available on demand. The requirement for an excuse has been removed in 2008 for elections on the federal level.
India
As of now, India does not have an absentee ballot system for all citizens. In a restricted sense, The Representation of the People Act-1950 (RPA) section 20(8) allows people such as people on polling duty and serving in armed forces to vote in absentia through postal means.Section 20 of the RPA-1950 disqualifies a non-resident Indian (NRI) from getting his/her name registered in the electoral rolls. Consequently, it also prevents an NRI from casting his/her vote in elections to the Parliament and to the State Legislatures . In August 2010, Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill-2010 which allows voting rights to NRI's was passed in both Lok Sabha with subsequent gazette notifications on Nov 24, 2010. With this NRI's will now be able to vote in Indian elections but have to be physically present at the time of voting. Recently several civic society organizations have urged the government to amend the RPA act to allow NRI's and people on the move to cast their vote through absentee ballot system.
Republic of Ireland
In the Republic of IrelandRepublic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, postal votes are only available in a restricted set of circumstances. The Irish constitution
Constitution of Ireland
The Constitution of Ireland is the fundamental law of the Irish state. The constitution falls broadly within the liberal democratic tradition. It establishes an independent state based on a system of representative democracy and guarantees certain fundamental rights, along with a popularly elected...
requires a secret ballot and the courts have interpreted this quite narrowly. Postal votes are available to people who by reason of their occupation, cannot vote normally. They are also available to students living away from home, to people with disabilities, to prisoners (since January 2007), and to long term residents of hospitals, nursing homes and other similar institutions.
Israel
IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
does not have an absentee ballot system for all citizens. Absentee ballots are restricted to soldiers, prisoners, sailors, overseas diplomats, disabled persons and hospitalized people. The votes are not cast directly but placed in a double envelope with identifying information and counted directly by the elections committee only after verifying that the voter has not voted at his official polling station. Most absentee ballots are cast the day of the elections in alternate polling stations. Early voting is limited to civil servants overseas. There is no postal voting.
Netherlands
In the NetherlandsNetherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, liberalised proxy voting is available. Voters can authorise someone else to cast their ballot without having to go through a registration procedure. Voters can cast a maximum of 2 proxy votes along with their own ballot. Postal ballots and Internet voting are only available to Dutch citizens living abroad, or having occupational duties abroad on election day.
Philippines
As provided by the Overseas Absentee Voting ActOverseas Absentee Voting Act
The Overseas Absentee Voting Act, officially known as Republic Act No. 9189, is a law in the Philippines passed on February 13, 2003 which provides for a system for citizens of the Philippines currently residing or working outside of the Philippines to vote in an election. This act was a...
, absentee voting in Philippine elections is only available in certain circumstances, such as Overseas Filipino Workers or other migrants. Votes must be cast in person at select polling places, such as a consulate office. There are mail-in written ballots only in select countries. Local absentee voting as pursuant to Republic Act No. 7166 and Executive Order No. 157 is only available for members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines
Armed Forces of the Philippines
The Armed Forces of the Philippines is composed of the Philippine Army, Philippine Navy and Philippine Air Force...
and the Philippine National Police
Philippine National Police
The Philippine National Police is the national police force of the Republic of the Philippines. It is both a national and a local police force in that it does provides all law enforcement services throughout the Philippines...
and government personnel on duty on election day. The absentee voting in both overseas and local is still manual vote counting system.
Recently, absentee voting in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
was done through the optical scan voting
Optical scan voting system
An optical scan voting system is an electronic voting system and uses an optical scanner to read marked paper ballots and tally the results.-History:...
due to COMELEC Resolution No. 8806 in the last general elections
Philippine general election, 2010
Elections for all positions in the Philippines above the barangay were held on Monday, May 10, 2010. The elected president will become the 15th President of the Philippines, succeeding President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is barred from seeking re-election due to term restrictions...
in 2010.
Switzerland
Swiss federal law allows postal votingPostal voting
Postal voting describes the method of voting in an election whereby ballot papers are distributed or returned by post to electors, in contrast to electors voting in person at a polling station or electronically via an electronic voting system....
in all federal elections and referenda, and all cantons also allow it for cantonal ballot issues. All voters receive their personal ballot by mail and may either cast it at a polling station or mail it back.
United Kingdom
In all United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
elections, postal votes are available on demand – no reason must be given – although a vote rigging scandal involving postal votes marred the 2005 Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
local election.
United States
In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, an absentee ballot is a ballot
Ballot
A ballot is a device used to record choices made by voters. Each voter uses one ballot, and ballots are not shared. In the simplest elections, a ballot may be a simple scrap of paper on which each voter writes in the name of a candidate, but governmental elections use pre-printed to protect the...
that the voter records and casts at a location other than the designated polling station on Election Day. Typically these ballots are mail
Mail
Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...
ed, though some states provide provisions for email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
ing ballots, fax
Fax
Fax , sometimes called telecopying, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material , normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device...
ing ballots, or delivering them in person to a designated location. Typically a voter must request an absentee ballot at least a week before the election occurs. Each State's Secretary of State or Director of Elections is in charge of the election process, including voter registration and absentee ballot requests. Balloting materials may be sent via the United States Postal Service without prepayment of postage for members of the Armed Forces, members of the U.S. Merchant Marine and U.S. citizens residing outside the territorial limits of the United States and the District of Columbia and their spouses.
Absentee voting by mail is allowed with no excuse in 28 states, and with an excuse in 22. No-excuse permanent absentee voting is allowed in 4 states. Contrary to the map at left, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
allows no-excuse early voting. Early voting in person is allowed with no excuse required in 31 U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
s, with an excuse in 3, and not at all in 16. The District of Columbia requires an excuse for both early voting and absentee voting.
Voters (usually) mark their ballots, which may be an optically read ballot marked with a pen or pencil, or may be a punched card ballot. They then mail the ballot to the state, or may bring the ballot in person to a designated location.
Each state has different laws regulating when absentee ballots must be counted, and who does the counting. Most states count absentee ballots on Election Day which can continue for several days after. The latest deadline is 10 days after Election day (for Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, and for overseas absentee ballots sent to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
.)
American citizens who are overseas, including active members of the military, are covered by the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act
Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act
The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act is a United States federal law dealing with elections and voting rights for United States citizens residing overseas. The act requires that all U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin...
that, among other things, provides for a Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot
Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot
The Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot is a write-in ballot for use by overseas American citizens. Under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, the ballot was created for citizens who "have made a timely application for but have not received their regular ballot from the state or...
which may be used in place of absentee ballots provided under state laws. The Federal Voting Assistance Program
Federal Voting Assistance Program
The Federal Voting Assistance Program administers the federal responsibilities of the Presidential designee , under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of 1986. The Director, FVAP administers the Act on behalf of the Secretary of Defense...
is a government program that assists such voters and exercises other authority under this act.
Pacific Northwest
Voting in the states of OregonOregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
and Washington are unique in regards to the rest of the nation, in that voting is conducted entirely by mail.
Oregon
The ballot in the Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
is mailed to all residents, who are then supposed to fill out the ballot and either mail it back to the elections official or bring it to a drop box. The term "absentee ballot" in Oregon refers to mailing the ballot to the county elections official, and not merely to receiving the ballot in the mail. As with most states, Oregon residents must register in advance to be able to vote via absentee ballot.
Washington
Like Oregon, the State of Washington conducts all elections via vote-by-mail. Originally, absentee ballots in Washington were mailed prior to election day to those voters who contacted their local county by indicating that they would be unable to vote at their local polling place on election day.
In 1993, the state began allowing all voters to vote by mail on a permanent basis. Since that time, voting by mail had gained in popularity, and the term "absentee ballot" had become synonymous with voting by mail. According to the Secretary of State, in 2006, over 88% of all voters cast votes using the vote-by-mail method. By then, many counties had made the switch to conducting their elections entirely by mail. The state's two largest counties (in terms of number of voters), King and Pierce, were the last two counties in the state to switch to all-mail voting. When the King County Council approved the switch in 2009, the county became the largest in the nation, in terms of number of voters, where elections are conducted entirely by mail. Pierce County's resistance to making the change led to action by the Washington State Legislature in 2011 that required the county to be in line with the rest of the state, thus making the entire state a "vote-by-mail" state.
Many counties provide drop boxes throughout the county to allow voters to drop off their ballot on or prior to election day, rather than paying postage by sending it through the mail. Ballots returned by mail need only be postmarked by election date, resulting in ballots being received by election officials over several days following an actual election.
California
CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
's Secretary of State has reported that in every general election since 1993, between 20% and 30% of ballots cast have been absentee ballots.
Maine
In the state of MaineMaine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, any voter may cast an absentee ballot and is not required to give a reason. They must fill out an application, available from the Secretary of State
Secretary of State
Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....
or their town clerk, and turn it in by hand or mail. They are then given or mailed a ballot, which must be returned to the town clerk by hand or by mail before the polls close on Election Day
Election Day (United States)
Election Day in the United States is the day set by law for the general elections of public officials. It occurs on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The earliest possible date is November 2 and the latest possible date is November 8...
.
Absentee Ballot applications are available at http://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/absent.htm. Ballots may be requested up to three months before an election. The ballots are available 30 to 45 days before an election. Maine voters can find their town at http://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/clerk.htm.
Maryland
Any registered MarylandMaryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
voter may vote by absentee ballot. Voters are not required to provide a reason for voting via absentee ballot.
South Dakota
Any registered South DakotaSouth Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
voter may vote by absentee ballot. Absentee ballots are available for primary and general elections six weeks prior to the election. Absentee ballots for city and school elections are available several weeks prior to the election.
To receive a ballot by mail, a voter must file a written application for an absentee ballot with the person in charge of the election. The application must be mailed or hand delivered to the person in charge of the election. The application cannot be submitted by fax. The voter's signature on the application must be notarized or witnessed by an official who will deliver the ballot to the voter. An application for a ballot by authorized messenger must be received by the person in charge of the election before 3:00 p.m. the day of the election.
The voter must sign a statement on the absentee ballot envelope prior to returning the ballot. All voted ballots must be returned to the person in charge of the election in time to be delivered to the appropriate polling place prior to the closing of the polls.
Texas
In 1997 the TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
legislature passed a bill allowing residents to cast absentee ballots from space, because of the presence of the NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
Johnson Space Center and the astronauts that live in the Houston metropolitan area.
United States
- U.S. Department of Defense Federal Voting Assistance Program
- LongDistanceVoter.org - a non-partisan, non-profit resource for US based absentee voters. Site includes forms, deadlines, and detailed directions on the absentee voting process.
- Overseas Vote Foundation Online registration and ballot request services
- "Voting is Easy" by Rock the Vote includes absentee information geared toward college students
- Archived list of states' rules on the timing of absentee ballot counting, and who does the counting
- Historical Absentee Ballot Use in California
- U.S. overseas absentee voter registration website by Democrats AbroadDemocrats AbroadDemocrats Abroad is the official organization of the Democratic Party for United States citizens living permanently or temporarily abroad. The organization is given state-level recognition by the Democratic National Committee....
- Can I Vote? Web site by state election officials