Voting from abroad
It's needlessly complicated and expensive.
Election Day was today in our household.
The Polk County Election Office in Des Moines emailed us our ballots and we printed them out and then meticulously followed the instructions — ballot goes inside a sealed envelope, then the affidavit is attached, and then all of that goes in a larger envelope. 1
Delivery takes anywhere from 7 to 14 days, so we needed to get it done this week to ensure they arrive in time. (DHL will deliver in 2-5 days but the cost is nearly $50.)
It’s a lot easier if you are in the armed services and live in one of 26 states that allow either online voting or returning your ballot via email. (Iowa is not one of them.)
The current system is clearly deterring Americans living overseas from voting. Of the 9 million Americans abroad, only 10 percent vote in presidential elections.
P.S. For friends living in Iowa, the deadline to register online is October 21. You can also register in person on Election Day at your local polling place.
Fun fact: International stamps here have a big “1” on them but that’s *not* the value of the postage — it’s actually about 1,80 euros. A booklet of five costs 9 euros and you need three of them mail a larger envelope back to America.
This makes me appreciate being able to vote locally.
California lets you fax them, so we did, but the processing time is much slower once the ballot is received. Next election, we’re going to mail ours or utilize the diplomatic pouch method so at least we can see the processing updates sooner.