VVA Chapter PI 887

United States Embassy Manila, Philippines

United States Consular Agency Cebu, Philippines

September 8, 2021

Message for U.S. Citizens: Voting in Upcoming Special Congressional Elections

The following states have elections in the next 90 days:

November 2, 2021:  Florida Special Primary Election in U.S. Congressional District 20*

November 2, 2021:  Ohio Special General Election in U.S. Congressional Districts 11 & 15**

*The State of Florida will conduct a special primary election on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, to fill a vacancy for the 20th Congressional District, which includes Broward and Palm Beach counties. Service members, eligible family members, and overseas citizens can register to vote up until October 4, 2021. Voters can use the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) to register to vote, request a ballot, and update their contact information by using the completion tool available at fvap.gov/FPCA or by using the fillable PDF version. After completing the FPCA, voters must print it, sign it, and send it to their election office in Florida. If using the FPCA to register for the first time, voters must mail the FPCA to their election office.

Florida voters who are already registered and want to receive a mailed ballot must submit the FPCA as a ballot request by October 23, 2021. Registered voters who prefer to receive their ballot by email or fax can request their ballot up until Election Day. Registered voters can send their completed, signed FPCA directly to their election office by email, mail, or fax.

Voters must return their voted absentee ballot by MAIL or FAX (fax only allowed if located overseas) and postmarked by 7 p.m. on November 2, 2021. Detailed instructions and county contact information are available at fvap.gov/florida.

** The State of Ohio will conduct two special general elections on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, to fill vacancies in the 11th Congressional District, which includes parts of Cuyahoga and Summit counties and the 15th Congressional district, which includes all of Clinton, Fairfield, Hocking, Madison, Morgan, Perry, Pickaway, and Vinton counties and parts of Athens, Fayette, Franklin, and Ross counties. Service members, eligible family members, and overseas citizens can use the FPCA to register to vote up until October 4, 2021. Ohio voters who are already registered to vote can use the FPCA to request their absentee ballot until 12 p.m. on October 30, 2021. Voters must return their voted absentee ballot by MAIL before 12:01 a.m. on November 2, 2021. Detailed instructions and county contact information are available at fvap.gov/ohio.

Voters from both states can verify the status of their voting materials by contacting their election office directly.

Voters who do not receive their requested ballot in time to return it by the ballot return deadline, can send the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB) to their election office as a backup ballot. If the official absentee ballot arrives after sending in the FWAB, the voter may complete and submit the official ballot, too. Only one ballot will be counted.

FVAP offers an email-to-fax forwarding service for voters from states that do not allow email return of voted ballots. Voters who do not have access to a fax machine can email their completed ballot to fax@FVAP.gov and FVAP will forward the ballot as a fax to the appropriate election office.

This information is current as of August 30, 2021. Please check the election calendars and state pages at FVAP.gov for real-time information.

If you would like more information about the Federal Voting Assistance Program, or need help with the absentee voting process, please go to FVAP.gov, call 703-588-1584 (toll free 1-800-438-VOTE or DSN 425-1584), or email vote@fvap.gov.

For more information about voting, click here and visit the Federal Voting Assistance Program website.

____________

For further information:

See the State Department’s travel website for the Worldwide Caution, Travel Advisories, Alerts, and the Philippines Country Specific Information.

Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive Alerts and make it easier to locate you in an emergency.

Contact the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines, located at 1201 Roxas Boulevard, at +(63) (2) 5301-2000, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. After-hours emergency number for U.S. citizens is +(63) (2) 5301-2000.

Call 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the United States and Canada or 1-202-501-4444 from other countries from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays). Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.