YALLA VOTE ‘08 Our Voice. Our Future.

We’ve got more information for you, in addition to this Yalla Vote post outlining how to vote while living overseas (see “Overseas Voting Guidelines“).

First, there’s a great website to help you get registered and ready to vote: VoteFromAbroad.org.  Vote from Abroad is a non-partisan website that will help you get out the vote, overseas style.  Its easy, step-by-step interface will walk you through every requirement to register as an overseas voter, and request an absentee ballot form.

All this absentee balloting had us here at the Arab American Institute scratching our heads over a particular possibility: what if you hold dual citizenship, but have never lived in the United States? Our Government Relations Department has the answer…

From the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm, we get this sage advice:

There are sixteen states in the United States that allow U.S. citizens overseas to vote even if they have never resided in the U.S. If a citizen has never resided in the U.S. but has a parent who is eligible to vote in one these sixteen states, a citizen is eligible to vote at the same voting residence claimed by their parent (certain special provisions may apply, please see state specific information for more details.) The sixteen states consist of Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

If you are not from one of the states allowing such a practice, do not give up. It may be that you have a bank account, property, or membership in an organization in one of the states that does allow registration and absentee voting by such persons. Perhaps you visited one of the states allowing such registration and earned income there or obtained a driver’s license there, or developed some other tie to that state. You should provide as much pertinent information as possible as an attachment to the Federal Postcard Application (FPCA) when you send it in. The final decision will be up to the local election official.

The Federal Voting Assistance Program website (www.fvap.gov) spells it all out for you. Please visit their section of information for if you’ve Never Resided in the U.S.