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Calgary — U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry's campaign veered north into Canada on Tuesday as his sister appealed to expatriate Americans to register for their absentee ballots. With all expectations of a tight election fight this November, the Democrats are looking everywhere for votes, Diana Kerry said during a stop in Calgary. “We do know that there's going to be battlegrounds in lots of places and we're fighting on every front,” said Ms. Kerry, who chairs a group called Americans Overseas for Kerry. While there are no official numbers, estimates suggest there are upwards of 400,000 Americans living in Canada....

JEFFERSON CITY — Some Missouri soldiers stationed in Iraq were unable to vote in last week’s elections because of trouble getting absentee ballots. As a result, Secretary of State Matt Blunt’s office said Monday that it is exploring whether overseas soldiers could e-mail their ballots for the Nov. 2 general election. Blunt is awaiting a determination from the Department of Defense, spokesman Spence Jackson said. The possibility of e-mailed ballots was brought to Blunt’s attention by Rep. Jim Avery, R-Crestwood, a combat engineer stationed in Iraq with the National Guard’s 1140th Engineering Battalion. In a telephone interview , Avery said...

WASHINGTON - Stung by voting problems four years ago, the Pentagon announced Friday it is pressing to improve absentee balloting by the U.S. military and civilians overseas in what could be a close 2004 presidential election. Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Charles Abell said he expected even greater military participation in the Nov. 2 election than in 2000 based on cooperation with states and efforts ranging from new postmarks on ballots to announcements at base movie theaters. Florida and other states experienced major problems with late and undated military votes from overseas in President Bush's razor-thin 2000 election victory. Thousands of...

Mexico City-John Kerry's sister urged Americans living in Mexico to support Democratic presidential candidate, saying Thursdaythey could help the United States "get back to having a president we can feel proud of."

New procedures will ensure absentee ballots count   E-mail story   Related Links       • Airmen Votes by Tech. Sgt. Patrick MurphyAir Combat Command Public Affairs 8/6/2004 - LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. (AFPN)  -- With the 2004 elections fast approaching, the handling of absentee ballots from overseas servicemembers is undergoing intense scrutiny. Air Combat Command's 82nd Communications Support Squadron postal flight is among the many organizations working to make sure these ballots arrive in the hands of election officials in time to be counted. ACC is the managing authority for the U.S Central Command area of responsibility, where a majority of U.S. military...

Thousands of votes from U.S. troops overseas could go uncounted again in November without emergency legislation extending deadlines for the ballots, a Chicago election official warned President Bush in a letter Tuesday. Nearly 30 percent of military voters who requested ballots in 2000 didn’t get them in time to vote. Theresa M. Petrone, a Democratic member of Chicago’s three-person Board of Election Commissioners, told Bush the problem could be solved if he proposed emergency legislation giving election officials up to 14 days after Election Day to collect and count ballots. Deadlines vary, but most states, including Illinois, require that ballots...

Once again, this year's elections are expected to be extremely close. It is critical that every NRA member and pro-Second Amendment supporter exercises his right to vote in order to protect our Right to Keep and Bear Arms. Even if you can't vote in person on November 2, your voice can still be heard! Most states allow voters to cast their ballots early (either in person or by mail). And every state allows absentee voting if you plan to be away on Election Day--November 2. To make sure the vote of every Second Amendment supporter is counted this year, NRA...

Can some one give me some insight in to absentee votes. I am in California voting absentee in Ohio, does my vote get counted or is it only if it is a close race? We are having a bit of a debate over this here at work. Can some one provide me with a reference outlining how the absentee ballot works? Thanks Freepers!

Like a Baptist minister, U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler has been preaching the evils of touch-screen voting and the eternal damnation that will befall the Democratic Party if the faithful don't cast absentee ballots in the upcoming fall elections. "It's the only way to create a paper record of your ballot," Wexler, D-Boca Raton, implores voters at meetings throughout Palm Beach County. And party loyalists apparently believe.

Inside the Beltway By John McCaslin Bush 1, Kerry 0 Louise R. Kilcullen knew the end was near, so the 86-year-old Alexandria woman, who died last Wednesday, made sure she voted by absentee ballot in the 2004 presidential election (we have it on good authority she cast her vote for President George W. Bush). "She was kidding around ... in the hospital that she wouldn't be around on November 2, and she wanted to make sure she voted before she died," the Rev. Dennis Kleinmann, pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Old Town Alexandria, tells Inside the Beltway. "I'm...

No Ballots for Those Risking Bullets: As you read this, there's a young Marine patrolling the roadside in Ramallah or Fallujah looking for IEDs. As he does, he daydreams. He thinks about his young wife in San Diego, his mom and dad, and the dog he found at the pound. He remembers that the presidential election is few short months away and he'll need to track down his unit's voting assistance officer and get an absentee ballot. He wants to vote for President Bush because he respects him, thinks he's been a good commander-in-chief. Sure, being in Iraq, several thousand...

MEXICO CITY — John Kerry (search)'s sister urged Americans living in Mexico to support the Democratic presidential candidate, saying Thursday they could help the United States "get back to having a president we can feel proud of." Diana Kerry (search), chairman of Americans Overseas for Kerry (search), campaigned for a second day in Mexico City. Absentee ballots from Americans living abroad have taken on new significance since the 2000 U.S. presidential election.

Military votes may be in jeopardy By Jim Drinkard WASHINGTON — Problems with military absentee ballots that clouded the 2000 election have not been fixed, jeopardizing the ability of more than 160,000 troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan to have their votes counted this fall. Among developments that have election officials concerned: • A $22 million pilot program to develop an Internet voting system for Americans deployed overseas was scrapped after the Pentagon concluded it would be vulnerable to hackers intent on tampering with elections. • The General Accounting Office (GAO) found that the system used to collect and deliver...

WHAT EVERY LOCAL ELECTION OFFICIAL NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT THE FEDERAL VOTING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (FVAP) This is a brief guide designed to give state and local election officials an overview of the FVAP program as it relates to them. It lists only information that might be useful locally. All information is given in thumbnail sketches and is elaborated upon in other FVAP informational channels. What Does FVAP Do? FVAP's job is to make sure that all military personnel stationed both overseas and within the United States and all overseas non-military citizens know how to register and vote and ensure...

It seems that with the article written in the Tennessean and several local talk show hosts getting the word out that the Davidson County Election Commission (according to state law, ALL county election commissioners are appointed by the state election commission and guess which party controls the state election commission) was sitting on their hands while they were violating state law by not sending out military ballots by June 21. Click here for FR thread and Click here for Tennessean storyWhen the story was written, the DCEC assured that they would get them out "in a day or two". However,...

American expats have never felt so wanted — or so powerful. With the US presidential election less than six months away, both Republicans and Democrats are working hard to secure expat votes. This massive surge in activity is because many people believe expats could decide the election this year. Even former Vice President Dan Quayle thinks so. He reminded the German chapter of Republicans Abroad in April how much the absentee vote (the ballot papers coming in mainly from abroad) mattered in the pivotal state of Florida in 2000. "It was the absentee votes that turned the tide in Florida....

HRC sends largest AKO e-mail to date By Annie Shippen May 20, 2004 WASHINGTON (Army News Service, May 20, 2004) -- The Army’s top adjutant general e-mailed all Soldiers through AKO accounts on May 11, telling them to register to vote. Brig. Gen. Gina S. Farrisee, the adjutant general, wanted to contact the Soldiers to ensure that they were aware of their ability to vote while overseas and saw the importance of registering to vote. The e-mail was sent to 1.3 million Soldiers. “Hopefully the e-mail will effect the Soldiers and they will think, ‘Gee, I am overseas, or...

Bruce Bonine, a native of Mercer Island, Washington, who now lives in Austria, uses a hockey stick to slap rubber ducks down a stream in Klosterneuburg during a mock 'election' race between George W. Bush and John Kerry, on Sunday, May 2, 2004. A duck bearing Kerry's name won. The event was organized by Democrats Abroad, which is trying to get Americans overseas to vote in November'sU.S. presidential election. (AP Photo/Hans Punz)

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Left out of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 were young Americans who have never lived in the United States but who do have U.S. citizenship through an American parent... Twelve states allow Americans who have always resided abroad and are children of U.S. citizens to use a parent's voting address, Brunelli said in a telephone interview from Washington. The states are Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wisconsin... There is no precise count of Americans abroad, although a U.S. census experiment is under way in three countries - France,...