Voting while on long cruise?

[RMLincoln]

We are booked on Tales of the South Pacific, leaving San Diego 30 Sept returning 17 Nov, 2016. Thus, we will be away for the US General Election 8 Nov, and for the 30-day period prior to Election Day which is when the Absentee Ballots become available.

 

I contacted Federal Voter Assistance Program and was advised that we do not qualify for UOCAVA voting as we would be on temporary holiday, not overseas residents nor military.

 

My guess is that someone has done this before! Any suggestions on how we can vote? Thanks, m--

[dchip]

We are on the same cruise with you. I just called our County Registars office. Unless our county has early voting sites, we are out of luck to vote!!!

 

Absentee Ballots must be mailed to you within 30 days of voting and then mailed back!! That's not going to happen.

 

It never occurred to me that we wouldn't be able to vote.

 

Cheers, Denise

Edited July 13, 2016 by dchip

[RMLincoln]

We are on the same cruise with you. I just called our County Registars office. Unless our county has early voting sites, we are out of luck to vote!!!

 

Absentee Ballots must be mailed to you within 30 days of voting and then mailed back!! That's not going to happen.

 

It never occurred to me that we wouldn't be able to vote.

 

Cheers, Denise

 

Maybe we could have the ballots mailed "in care of" a HAL port agent or Post Master in Hawaii, fill them out and mail them back? It's worth a shot. The post office is about 2 blocks from the pier in Honolulu.

 

Let's see what others have done.... Thanks, m--

[CruiserGuyWPB]

Hmmmmm, I think most of us know it really doesnt matter. The way the electoral college works, most states votes dont even matter. Besides 2000, when did AK or HI matter not to mention the armed forces that are absentee. Their votes should be counted first.

 

Its all depends not he state. But the absentee votes are only counted in the rare extreme case like 2000, other than that, they never matter.:confused:

[USN59-79]

We had a similar situation on one of the Grand Asia voyages. I had our absentee ballots sent to the U.S. Embassy in Hong Kong. We picked them up there, filled them out and the front office on the Amsterdam mailed them for us. There is a U.S. Embassy in Suva, Fiji, so that would probably work for you. I haven't checked, but some other ports might have U.S. consulates also.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Hmmmmm, I think most of us know it really doesnt matter. The way the electoral college works, most states votes dont even matter. Besides 2000, when did AK or HI matter not to mention the armed forces that are absentee. Their votes should be counted first.

 

Its all depends not he state. But the absentee votes are only counted in the rare extreme case like 2000, other than that, they never matter.:confused:

 

VOTING MATTERS. It's true that absentee votes aren't counted unless there's a tight race. But you don't know how tight the race will be until election day (or the next day) so it's worth doing if voting matters to you.

 

The issue I see with the absentee ballot is how the OP will get it. I'm not sure it can be mailed to you in care of someone else at another address. If someone is picking up your mail, they can dig it out and send it to the port agent for you.

 

I'd start by talking to someone at the local board of elections. In NJ, it's handled at the county level. Not sure about other states.

[iflyrc5]

We live in Indiana. We leave on Sept 24th and will not return until Dec 2. I talked with the election folks at our county court house and they said that ballots in our district are suppose to be available on Sept 21 and we can come out to there office and vote. They also said that if the ballots are not available that we would be able to vote on line. Not sure how that works and not sure where we will be able to get wifi. The good thing is since we don't turn on the TV to news while on the ship we will not have to put up with all the TV ads and political phone calls:D

[rkacruiser]

Twice, I have requested an absentee ballot mailed in care of HAL's Port Agent in Hong Kong. The ship was docked for 2 days. The first time, the ballot envelope was delivered to my stateroom on the first day. I mailed it during the 2nd day. Word of caution: I took my mail to the Front Office to be mailed since they had the necessary postage available. But, I became suspicious when I was told that the cost to mail my ballot envelope was the same as the postage for a post card. I decided to go to the nearest HK Post Office which was on HK Island. (We were docked at Kowloon. This was not a problem to do.) Mailing my envelope at the HK Post Office, the cost was considerably more than what I had been told on the ship. If I had listened to the Front Office person, my ballot would never have made it. (Here in Ohio, absentee ballots are counted for each election.)

 

The second time I tried to do this, the ballot envelope from my Board of Elections never arrived at the ship.

 

The suggestion of having the ballot mailed in care of the U. S. Embassy is one I'll remember. Never thought of that possibility.

Edited July 13, 2016 by rkacruiser

[Lady Chew]

In 2012 we took a 75-day cruise that left Seattle mid-September. We were able to vote our absentee ballots before we left.

 

Loved being away for the last two months before the election ... no annoying phone calls, no reams of worthless paper being delivered every day in the mail, no FOX or MSNBC ... it was great!

 

Doing the same thing this year, only we're not leaving until mid-October ...

[Mickie]

Look on the bright side: no matter who wins you can say "don't blame me"!! :D

 

I discussed this on our maasdam roll call, departing to Australia and,New Zealand in late,September from Seattle.

 

I had called my election office in Florida. They could not guarantee they would have ballots ready before we leave, around September 26.

 

Their suggestion was that we call a day or two before and IF they have ballots that we should drive down to their office and complete them there and then. It sounds very iffy.

 

But I do agree with other posters about the difficult choices. But I promised myself I will not get political on this site!!

[dakrewser]

VOTING MATTERS. It's true that absentee votes aren't counted unless there's a tight race. But you don't know how tight the race will be until election day (or the next day) so it's worth doing if voting matters to you.

 

 

Um, ALL absentee ballots are counted. Typically this is done after election day, and usually it doesn't change the outcome, simply making the race closer or more one-sided. But they are all counted.

[Typhoon1]

Call your congressman's office. They MAY be able to assist with this dilemma.

[dchip]

Call your congressman's office. They MAY be able to assist with this dilemma.

 

Good idea!!!! Thanks, I will.

 

Cheers, Denise

[Mickie]

Good idea about calling congressman!!!!

 

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

[sppunk]

If you pay me I'll cast your vote!

[Boytjie]

Hmmmmm, I think most of us know it really doesnt matter. The way the electoral college works, most states votes dont even matter. Besides 2000, when did AK or HI matter not to mention the armed forces that are absentee. Their votes should be counted first.

 

Its all depends not he state. But the absentee votes are only counted in the rare extreme case like 2000, other than that, they never matter.:confused:

 

The OP is from New Mexcio and it is one of the important states in my opinion, unlike my home state.

[rkacruiser]

Um, ALL absentee ballots are counted. Typically this is done after election day, and usually it doesn't change the outcome, simply making the race closer or more one-sided. But they are all counted.

 

Not 100% certain about this, but I think most Ohio County Board of Election offices count the absentee ballots during the day of the election and their totals are part of the early reported results.

 

Voting is very important to me. I was really disappointed when my ballot failed to arrive and I lost my vote. The fact that I was successful in voting from Hong Kong the first time and was not able to do it the second time doubled my disappointment.

Edited July 13, 2016 by rkacruiser

[SetAnOpenCourse]

At least in FL you'd probably contact the commissioner of elections for the county.

 

As for the "lesser of two evils" comment, I humbly suggest that you reconsider. I think that was a valid attitude in recent presidential elections, but this time around is not politics as usual.

[ellieanne]

VOTING MATTERS. It's true that absentee votes aren't counted unless there's a tight race. But you don't know how tight the race will be until election day (or the next day) so it's worth doing if voting matters to you.

 

The issue I see with the absentee ballot is how the OP will get it. I'm not sure it can be mailed to you in care of someone else at another address. If someone is picking up your mail, they can dig it out and send it to the port agent for you.

 

I'd start by talking to someone at the local board of elections. In NJ, it's handled at the county level. Not sure about other states.

 

Absentee ballots are ALWAYS counted, regardless of how close the race is. They cannot not count valid ballots. I was a poll commissioner and have a friend who works at the registrar of voters. Absentee ballots received by the deadline and judged to be valid are counted -- meaning the voter is able to vote in that district and has not voted in other means, no judgment is passed on how the voter voted -- always. They are votes, just as if the voter had appeared in person. Please do not think that your vote is ignored because it's an absentee vote. It will be counted. It MUST be counted.

Edited July 14, 2016 by ellieanne

[fire eater]

We are booked on Tales of the South Pacific, leaving San Diego 30 Sept returning 17 Nov, 2016. Thus, we will be away for the US General Election 8 Nov, and for the 30-day period prior to Election Day which is when the Absentee Ballots become available.

 

I contacted Federal Voter Assistance Program and was advised that we do not qualify for UOCAVA voting as we would be on temporary holiday, not overseas residents nor military.

 

My guess is that someone has done this before! Any suggestions on how we can vote? Thanks, m--

 

Hullo from Downunder. Could you vote in Hawaii? Or at the US Embassy in Sydney when you arrive? Might be worth checking.

 

fe

[dakrewser]

Call your congressman's office. They MAY be able to assist with this dilemma.

 

Voting is a state, not a federal, issue. Your state representative would be a better choice to call, or your county election commissioner.

[dakrewser]

Hullo from Downunder. Could you vote in Hawaii? Or at the US Embassy in Sydney when you arrive? Might be worth checking.

 

fe

 

No, you need to vote in your home state (or using your home state's provided absentee ballot). Some ex-pats (not sure of the qualifications, but it would vary depending on the state they were registered in) can deliver their ballots to a US embassy for transport, though.

[Iwant2BatC]

This same situation came up for me several years ago on the Around Africa cruise. I got no help locally so finally figured out what port we would be in at the appropriate time and emailed the US Embassy Consular Office requesting permission to have my absentee ballot mailed to them. They were very accommodating and when we reached that port I went there and picked up my ballot, voted, sealed it up in the envelope and handed it back to them to mail. As far as I know my vote made it!!

[dakrewser]

NOT TRUE. 100% of all the votes are ALWAYS counted even if the race is totally not close. Where did you get such an stupid idiotic idea that absentee votes are only race is close.

 

DON

 

 

To be fair, the only time the media seems to mention absentee ballots is when they're still left to be counted in a relatively close race. You know, "Jones is only ahead by 5000 votes and there are still 5200 absentee ballots to be counted!" Anything to sell papers...

[USN59-79]

This same situation came up for me several years ago on the Around Africa cruise. I got no help locally so finally figured out what port we would be in at the appropriate time and emailed the US Embassy Consular Office requesting permission to have my absentee ballot mailed to them. They were very accommodating and when we reached that port I went there and picked up my ballot, voted, sealed it up in the envelope and handed it back to them to mail. As far as I know my vote made it!!

That is a good point about letting the embassy or consulate mail your ballot. My understanding is that there is no charge and I expect that the State Department mailing system is more reliable than either the Amsterdam's or a local foreign postal system.