Interested in voting?

ABSENTEE VOTING FOR U.S. CITIZENS IN ROMANIA

Your central reference point for exercising your right to vote in the coming primary and general elections is the Consular Section. ACS Chief Stephanie Bunce is the Post Voting Officer and is available to answer all your questions. Election 2003-2004 voter registration and absentee ballot information is available directly from the Federal Voting Assistance Program at their website: www.fvap.gov.

Eligibility for State and Federal elections depends upon the laws and regulations of your State of residence in the U.S. The absentee voting process is designed to permit citizens who will be away from their local polling places on election day to vote by mail. Absentee voters should request their ballots at least 60 days before the election. The Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) is a postage free postcard printed and distributed by the federal government for use by absentee voters. The FPCA serves as a simultaneous registration form and application for an absentee ballot. However, the extent and manner of its use are controlled by State law and sometimes by local procedure.

To receive the FPCA or for additional information, you should contact the U.S. Embassy at 40 1 210 4042 or E-mail acsbucharest@state.gov to request the necessary forms. You may also register online at:
www.fvap.gov/pubs/ofpcastates.html. (Please follow specific instructions for state-by-state acceptance of online registrations.)

The Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP), in conjunction with several states and counties, is conducting an Internet registration and voting demonstration for the 2004 election. This Congressionally mandated project is called SERVE, which stands for Secure Electronic Registration and Voting Experiment. SERVE will allow thousands of absentee uniformed services personnel, their dependents, and overseas U.S. citizens to register to vote and cast their ballots from any Windows-based computer with Internet access, anywhere in the world. Please visit the SERVE web site at www.serveusa.gov to find out more information. The web site provides information on participating counties and states, frequently asked questions, election information, and project updates.

How to Vote

Applying for the ballot: The Embassy does not supply voting ballots. You cannot vote at the Embassy. You must request your absentee ballot using a form known as the FPCA - Federal Post Card Application. The instructions for completing the form in accordance with your state's requirements are available in the 2003-2004 Voting Assistance Guide. Information from the Guide, including state-by-state instructions for requesting absentee ballots and voting and the on-line version of the FPCA are available at www.fvap.gov. American Samoa, Guam and Ohio do not accept the on-line version of the FPCA.

You may e-mail us with your request for a Federal Post Card Application for a ballot (FPCA), or telephone the Embassy's Voting Unit between 8:00 am and 11:30 or 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm, Monday through Thursday and on Friday between 8:00 am and 11:30 am. The telephone number is 40 1 210 4042. When requesting the FPCA, request the voting instructions for your state of residence. If you live permanently overseas, for voting purposes your state of residence is the state where you last lived immediately before leaving the United States. Please give the number of FPCA's your household requires.
FPCA's may also be collected from the Embassy. The Embassy is closed on Romanian and American public holidays.

Note: In some states, one FPCA will get you both the Primary and the General Election ballots. In others, you need to send a separate FPCA prior to each election.

What do I do with the FPCA? Fill out the FPCA using the instructions attached to the postcard. If you have difficulty in reading or understanding any English language materials, relating to voting or voter registration, please ask the consular staff for assistance. If you have questions about the instructions or if you need to know the address of the official to whom to address the postcard (e.g. the County Clerk, Board of Elections, Registrar of Voters, etc.) consult the Voting Assistance Guide extract for your state.

The Voting Assistance Guide contains up-to-date requirements and information for voting in each state. You will be given the state information applicable in your case. Note the date for applying. Once you determine the county you vote in, the Guide can give you the address and zip code of the county official to which you must address your FPCA. Note many states will accept the FPCA as a multipurpose form, i.e. it can be used as an application for registration and/or an absentee ballot. In the event that your voting state does not accept the FPCA for all purposes, the state will mail you a registration form, which must be completed. In some cases the form must be notarized before an American consular officer or notary public abroad. In those states, only after the registration form is fully executed and mailed will you receive an absentee ballot.

Notarization: If the state requires that you take an oath to the contents of the FPCA, bring it to the Embassy's Voting Unit for notarization along with your passport. All notarization services on voting materials are performed free of charge. If you cannot appear before a consular officer, you may have it witnessed by a local solicitor or notary public. (There will be a charge in that case.)

Mailing: An FPCA may be mailed, free of postage, through the Embassy if the envelope indicates that postage has been pre-paid. If you mail it through the Romanian postage system, you must place the appropriate airmail stamp on it. Also check the extract from the Voting Assistance Guide for your state as many of the states now allow you to fax your ballot.

Will I incur tax liability by registering to vote? Federal law provides that no tax liability may be imposed based on exercising your right to vote in Federal elections, e.g., the President, Vice President, U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives to Congress. If you are a civilian citizen residing outside the U.S. and wish to avoid classifying yourself as a state resident for tax purposes, you should check "Other U.S. citizen residing outside U.S." on the FPCA. You will normally receive a Federal ballot only. If the state sends you a full ballot because it does not print a separate Federal ballot, you may vote the full ballot without incurring a tax liability.

Note, however, that some applications for ballots or the ballots themselves will ask you whether you want to vote for state officials up for election, e.g. candidates for governor, candidates for the state legislatures. The law only covers federal officials. If you decide to vote for state officials, some states may find that your actions in registering to vote for state officials or actually voting for state officials will allow the particular state to consider voting as a factor in determining tax domicile. Before voting for state officials consult the Voting Assistance Guide that lists the states operating in this manner. To reiterate, if you register to vote and vote only for federal officials the law precludes the federal government and state or local governments from using voting in determining your tax domicile.

Federal write-in absentee ballot: Overseas voters may be eligible to use the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot (FWAB) to vote for federal offices (President/Vice President, Senator, and Representative). The FWAB may be used only for general elections and is a backup for voters who expect to be able to use the regular absentee ballot from their state or territory but who did not receive that ballot in time to vote and return it. The FWAB must be received by the local election official no later than the deadline for receipt of regular absentee ballots under state law. The FWAB is to be used to assist those voters who would be disenfranchised through no fault of their own, and is not designed as a replacement for the regular state ballot. It is valid only when the state ballot has been requested.

The FWAB's can be obtained by contacting the Embassy's Voting Unit.
Denial of right to vote: Any person who believes that he or she has been wrongfully denied the right to vote should follow the procedures outlined in the Voting Assistance Guide. Alternatively, contact the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. 20520.

Important Information:

• Complete the FPCA and return it to the address shown in the State instruction leaflet. Please take note of normal pouch transit time if mailing through the pouch system.
• If mailed through the Romanian postal system, put an airmail stamp on the FPCA.
• Apply in good time - at least 60 days before the election.