Absentee Voting Easier for Expat Americans

The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo is transmitting the following information through the Embassy's warden system as a public service to all U.S. citizens in Japan.  Please disseminate this message to U.S. citizens in your organizations or to other Americans you know.On October 28, 2009, Congress enacted the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act.  This legislation amends existing law regarding overseas voting in federal elections, and should make voting easier for overseas Americans.

**********New Procedures for 2010 Elections**********

Beginning with the November 2010 general election, and for all subsequent general, special, and primary elections, states will be required to mail out ballots at least 45 days prior to an election for a federal office.  This requirement may cause some states to select earlier primary dates in order to comply with the 45-day mailing deadline, or to request waivers due to special circumstances.In addition to mailing ballots to overseas voters, the states will be required, at the voter's request, to provide registration forms, absentee ballot request forms, and blank ballots via fax or email.  However, each state's laws determine whether ballot requests or voted ballots can be returned via fax or email.  The new law prohibits states from rejecting marked ballots based on notarization, paper size, or paper-weight requirements.  The witnessing requirements of individual states remain in place.

**********Overseas Absentee Ballot Requests**********

Effective immediately, states will no longer be required by federal law to continue to mail election materials to overseas addresses (even when they are determined to be invalid) for two complete general election cycles on the basis of a single ballot request.  It will now be up to each state to determine how long to continue to send out election materials before requiring overseas voters to submit new ballot requests.  This change, sought by local election officials, should greatly decrease the volume of voting materials sent abroad to addresses where Americans no longer reside.

**********State Department Recommendations**********

In light of these changes, the Department of State recommends that all U.S.  voters residing abroad request absentee ballots from their local election officials at the start of each calendar year, and whenever there is a change of address, change of e-mail address, or change of name, by completing and sending in a Federal Post Card Application (FPCA.) To locate information on your specific state's requirements, and to obtain an on-line version of the FPCA, please visit www.fvap.org.  FPCAs may be mailed to your local voting officials in the United States via international mail or from any U.S. embassy or consulate.  Many states allow U.S. citizens overseas to submit the FPCA by e- mail or fax.

The Department of State strongly encourages all U.S.  overseas voters to provide e-mail addresses or fax numbers on their FPCAs to enable local election officials to transmit election materials in the fastest manner available, which should then allow sufficient time for the return of voted ballots.  For information regarding your specific state, please visit www.fvap.org.

**********Emergency Ballots**********

The Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB) serves as an emergency ballot for the November general elections for federal offices, although some states also permit its use for elections for state and local offices.  Beginning in January 2011, the new law allows use of the FWAB for primary, special, and runoff elections for federal offices.  Voters who request an absentee ballot in advance of their state's ballot request deadline, but who fail to receive an official ballot from local election officials in time to vote, should complete the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot and send it back to local election officials in time for it to be counted.  An on-line version of the FWAB, together with instructions for its use, is available at www.fvap.gov.

**********Questions?**********

The Voting Assistance Officer at the Tokyo Embassy is also always available to answer questions about absentee voting.  To contact the Voting Assistance Officer, send an e-mail to tokyoacs@state.gov.  For SOFA status personnel, please contact your installations Voting Assistance Officer for assistance or more information.

**********In case of emergencies involving American citizens, please contact the American Citizens Services (ACS) unit of either the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo or one of the U.S. Consulates in Japan listed below:

U.S. Embassy in TokyoAmerican Citizen Services1-10-5 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8420Tel: 03-3224-5000Fax: 03-3224-5856http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/tacs-main.html

The U.S. Embassy serves Americans in Tokyo, Chiba, Fukushima, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Nagano, Niigata, Saitama, Shizuoka, Tochigi, Yamagata and Yamanashi.

Consulates:

* Osaka-Kobe: 11-5, Nishitenma 2-chome, Kita-ku, Osaka 530-8543; Tel: 06-6315-5912, Fax: 06-6315-5914; serving Americans in Osaka, Aichi, Ehime, Fukui, Gifu, Hiroshima, Hyogo, Ishikawa, Kagawa, Kochi, Kyoto, Mie, Nara, Okayama, Shimane, Shiga, Tokushima, Tottori, Toyama, and Wakayama prefectures.  http://osaka.usconsulate.gov/

* Nagoya: Nagoya International Center Bldg. 6th floor, 1-47-1 Nagono, Nakamura-ku, Nagoya 450-0001; Tel 052-581-4501, Fax: 052-581-3190; providing emergency consular services only (including death and arrest cases) for Americans living in Aichi, Gifu, and Mie prefectures. http://nagoya.usconsulate.gov/

* Fukuoka:  5-26, Ohori 2-chome, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka 810-0052; Tel: 092-751-9331, Fax: 092-713-9222; serving Americans in Fukuoka, Kagoshima, Kumamoto, Miyazaki, Nagasaki, Oita, Saga and Yamaguchi prefectures.  All American Citizen Services are by appointment only.  http://japan.usembassy.gov/fukuoka/wwwhmain.html

* Sapporo: Kita 1-jo, Nishi 28-chome, Chuo-ku, Sapporo 064-0821; Tel: 011-641-1115, Fax: 011-643-1283; serving Americans in Akita, Aomori, Hokkaido, Iwate and Miyagi prefectures.  http://sapporo.usconsulate.gov/

* Naha: 2-1-1 Toyama, Urasoe City, Okinawa 901-2104; Phone: 098-876-4211, Fax: 098-876-4243, DSN: 645-7323; serving Americans in Okinawa and the Amami Oshima Island group.  http://naha.usconsulate.gov/

For more information on living on Japan, visit the USEMB website.

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