Mythbusting

Roughly 6.5m US citizens living abroad are eligible to vote, but turnout is a fraction of domestic turnout (anywhere from 9% to 20%). The main reasons for this are that a lot of overseas voters:

1. Don’t know they can vote
2. Don’t know how to vote
3. When they try, they run into obstacles which deter them.

Since the launch of the Voting Champion program on the 4th of July and massive efforts to promote voting to overseas voters through votefromabroad.org, we’ve come a long way in tackling the first two obstacles. Visitors to the Vote from Abroad website last week were triple the number compared to the same period in the 2016 election. This is incredibly heartening! It shows a strong desire in overseas Americans to participate in their democracy.

Now we are in crunch-time assisting voters with questions on their ballots. We are seeing a lot of misinformation and myths about voting from abroad. Even among Local Election Officials (LEOs) whose job it is to administer elections. Not all of them are fully conversant in the law that provides overseas citizens the right to vote in federal elections, the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA). U.S. citizens residing outside the United States are covered by this law.

Here are a few examples from voters I have helped:

1. A voter from Canada tries to vote in Michigan and is told that he can’t register because he doesn’t have an active link to an address.

This is not true! The UOCAVA legislation expressly states that overseas voters can vote at their last residential address. They do not need an active link to that address.

2. A voter from the U.K. is trying to vote in Connecticut and is told he must provide a copy of his US tax return.

This is not true! There is no such requirement. Voting is not connected to taxes, and you certainly do not have to produce them to register to vote and request your ballot.

3. A voter from France is trying to vote in Florida and is told she must provide a copy of her Social Security card to prove her identity. She no longer has a copy of that social security card and is told she can’t vote.

This is not true! You don’t have to produce a copy of your original social security card to vote. You may very well need to provide all or part of that number, but no state requires the card itself.

So what is a voter supposed to do if the information their LEO is giving them is incorrect? First, it’s very important you identify yourself as an overseas (UOCAVA) voter as often that is where the confusion comes for the LEO. If the LEO continues to insist on any of the above, even after your overseas status is clear, contact us at voterprotection@votefromabroad.org and we can help.

These are just the voters who have come forward. Many more have likely given up when they hit a barrier, not knowing how to reach out for help. Voting should not be this hard. So I ask you. Check with your overseas American friends just to make sure they know how to vote, even if you think that they do. If they vote in a different jurisdiction from you, they are not going to have the same experience of returning their ballot as you.

Ask your friends and colleagues if they have had any difficulties. If they have, they aren’t alone. Encourage them to get help at one of our Voter Help drop-ins. Check this link for details — or email us at voterhelp@votefromabroad.org. And if they haven’t yet applied for their ballot, ask them to do it TODAY — it is still possible to request your ballot in most states. Do it today at votefromabroad.org.