Register American voters abroad

AP Wire | 05/17/2004 | Dems, GOP target American voters abroad

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With an estimated 3 million voting age expatriate Americans up for grabs, AP writer William J. Kole says:

Mindful of the recount fiasco that put Bush in the White House four years ago, Democrats and Republicans everywhere from Hong Kong to Hungary are aggressively targeting American expatriates, whose absentee ballots could prove decisive in a tight race.

MSNBC carried a story, dated May 12, about Brett Rierson, an American living in Hong Kong, who started his own "grassroots" effort to get American expatriates registered to vote in the presidential election. The impetus came not only from his own dissatisfaction with President Bush's actions and policies, but also from similar dissatisfaction expressed by non-Americans, who cannot vote in this election but who can speak indirectly when they encourage the Americans that are living in their country to register and vote. Rierson and two colleagues set up a website (www.OverseasVote.com) to do just that. Visitors to the site can follow the links to find out how to register to vote, if they are U.S. citizens. If they are not, they can find a prepared message to send to their American acquaintances to encourage them to vote.

U.S. residents can use the site to encourage friends and family who are living overseas to register and vote. They can also do as I have done and let overseas friends know about the site so that they can tell the Americans that they know about it.

Other useful sites include: Democrats Abroad.

Registration forms are downloadable at the Federal Voting Assistance Program.