This October, Americans in Florence can benefit from non-partisan voter assistance for the US midterm elections.
American citizens can seek advice about voting from abroad at The British Institute of Florence’s Sotto al British street-level space in lungarno Guicciardini 15 on October 4 (12 noon to 2pm), 6, 11, 13, 18 and 20 (3-5pm).
At the Voter Assistance Days, Americans in Tuscany can use Federal Write in Absentee Ballots and the FPCA (Federal Post Card Application for registration and absentee ballot request). Assistance will be given with online voter registration, mail-in ballots and ballot requests, which must be done as soon as possible to make the deadline to receive ballots by email. The sessions will also set out options on how to send ballots back to the US, including using the 20% discount provided by DHL (promo code USA2020).
On October 6, a Rome-based representative of the U.S. Federal Voting Assistance Program, FVAP, will be in attendance to support the group of American women who have volunteered to provide this service in Florence. “We know it isn’t easy to understand how to vote from abroad in the US elections. Every state has different rules and deadlines for registering to vote, requesting your absentee ballot, and then sending in your ballot on time. We can help with this process!”
Sarah Baker, one of the women organizing the voter assistance in Florence, explains: “We used to do this through Americans Abroad, but this year there is a lot of request for non-partisan voter assistance. At least two of us are certified as voting assistance officers by the US Department of Defense. The British Institute has very kindly offered us their Sotto space for these few Voter Assistant days.”
