Voting while away!!!!

[Krazy Kruizers]

We are extremely upset.

We sent in our registration forms for absentee ballots the first week of August.

Called today to find out when the official forms will be sent out as we leave next Tuesday.

We were told that the absentee ballots in our state won't be sent out until the 15th of October.

WE ARE FURIOUS!!!!

We have never missed a presidential vote since we were able to vote - many, many years ago!!!

[imsulin]

Just wondering why you need an absentee ballot if you are leaving next Tuesday? How long is your cruise?

[Krazy Kruizers]

We will be in San Diego for several days before we board our 21 day cruise on October 15th on the Statendam.

Then we will be a couple of more days after the cruise in San Diego before we fly home. We don't get home until Nov 8.

We have never had a problem like this before around election time.

[gliles]

No offense but who are you furious with? If you plan to be gone for a month around and including election day it should be expected, shouldn't it? That would upset me too to miss an election but I think I would have calculated that in when I booked it and our anniversary is 11/1 so we do factor that in every year.

 

I promise I am just asking, I am not trying to start a fight!

[imsulin]

I voted on an absentee ballot in 2000, because I had planned a trip to Ireland the first week of November. I didn't have any problems with it (other than the fact that I'm not sure if it was counted!).

[DFD1]

It seems unreasonable, to say the least, that the distribution date for absentee ballots would be so close to election day....any closer and they would be practically useless.

[Lovebirds]

Did you ask if you can go to the county Board of elections office and cast your ballots before you leave? I did this in Ohio a couple of years ago. The rules may not be the same in all states, but it's worth checking into. I heard something on the news about some states being open for early voting now.

[RuthC]

That's a shame, KK, especially as Penn. is a "swing" state and your vote could actually matter.

If service men/women can get their ballots in time there's no excuse for delaying sending ballots to other absent voters.

[Orcrone]

Seems to me that Oct. 15 is pretty late for them to be sending out the absentee ballots. DW and I got ours last Thursday or Friday in Virginia.

[iluvcruzin]

I haven't recieved my ballots yet but I sure have received the election junk mail already. I faxed my form in a couple weeks ago. I'm not leaving until the end of the month so I imagine I will have it in ample time.

[cruzincurt]

I assume the delay is the same as in Florida. The Elections people have delayed sending out the ballots since the Democrats keeping suing to try to keep Nader off.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Nadar is (was) a big issue here as well.

We have been out of the coutry before on election day and always had our absentee ballots a month before the elections.

We were told that we could go into Pittsburgh anytime after the 25th to vote. We explained that we would not be in this country - again - to them.

YUP - PA is a swing state.

Oh well - that's life.

[Nasmas]

We are extremely upset.

 

We sent in our registration forms for absentee ballots the first week of August.

 

Called today to find out when the official forms will be sent out as we leave next Tuesday.

 

We were told that the absentee ballots in our state won't be sent out until the 15th of October.

 

WE ARE FURIOUS!!!!

 

We have never missed a presidential vote since we were able to vote - many, many years ago!!!

Can you not go and vote absentee in person? I do early voting all the time and I always do it at the courthouse.

[jollycruiser]

Now this is a real case of disenfranchment. I would demand the right to vote before you leave. If they will not let you, make a huge stink about it in your local community. There has to be some flexibility in this type of situation. And yes your votes in PA could possibly decide who the next president will be. I wouldn't sit quiet about this one Yawny.

[Krazy Kruizers]

They just stopped taking new application forms this Monday.

And they haven't even begun to set up the machines yet. That's why we were told that we couldn't go into Pittsburgh in person until the 25th.

Time to call a congressman.

[saltydog28]

krazy kruizers- I have to agree with Nasmas-I have gone to the courthouse and voted.

And it was like pulling teeth to get that information. Call the courthouse and ask again, if you don't like the answer, ask to speak to their boss. Sort of like trying to get a ship board credit.

Hang in there,

Pat.

[jollycruiser]

I'm celebrating your persistance and a democracy that values each of us. May the candidate of your efforts win!

[rkacruiser]

It is possible to have absentee ballots mailed to meet the ship wherever in the world you are. Using the port agent address information the Company sends out with the cruise documents, that address can be used for the ballots to be delivered to you aboard ship. One needs to plan time-wise for where the ballots should be sent and to allow for enough time for the ballots to be returned to the Board of Elections at your home so that they can be counted.

 

During the 2002 Asia Pacific Cruise of the Volendam, I had my absentee ballots sent to meet the ship in care of the Port Agent in Hong Kong. In the evening of our first day at dock, the ballots were delivered, I was able to vote, and mail them from the Post Office on Hong Kong Island the next morning.(I got to use the Star Ferry in going from Kowloon to the Island where there was a Post Office very close to the Star Ferry Terminal.)

 

Interestingly, when I presented the address to be used to the clerk at my Board of Election office, she said that the address was too long to be used(it was a very lengthy address, several lines long). "It won't fit on the mailing labels we use. Is it really necessary to have all of that information in the address?" When I reminded her that this was a mailing going to communist China and that it would be unlikely that Holland America would include information that was not really needed, she relented. She said, "Well, I guess I could use a larger mailing label." (And that exactly is what they did.)

 

It was kind of fun knowing that I was still able to vote, even when I was in Hong Kong.:)

[Tatka]

This is the first time we'll be able to vote...and how said I don't have slightest idea who should we vote for!!! I strongly dislike both candidates.:(

 

Oh well, in our state it wouldn't matter anyway.;)

[RuthC]

Congratulations, KK, that all your persistence paid off. The right to vote should never be taken lightly.

 

Tatka, I know exactly what you mean when you say your presidential vote won't make any difference. Both candidates consider Rhode Island's vote a forgone conclusion, and four electoral votes not worth worrying about anyway!

[HeatherInFlorida]

Superstein, guess what!!! You're off my "ignore" list!!!! And I'm not going to tell you why, but you can guess:D if you want to.

KK, I was about to offer some ideas when I read your post saying you were successful. I'm so glad because I couldn't believe there wasn't a way around this.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Now I know how some of you feel whenever you call HAL's ship services and get different answers for the same question.

Because that happened to us each time we called office of voter registration.

We never dreamed that they wouldn't be sending out the absentee ballots until just a couple of weeks before the election since we got them last year nearly 6 weeks before the elections. Otherwise when we sent in our request for absentee ballots we would have had them sent to the ship at one of the ports.

[Krazy Kruizers]

HMMM!!!

That depends on whom you think the good guy is and who the scoundrel is.

;) ;)

[Slinkiecat]

I'm so glad to see you got your chance to vote. I hope all other cruising voters have made their arrangements as well.

 

One thought, though - Only those who have taken the time and made the effort to understand the issues and know the voting history of the candidates should bother to cast a ballot. Our future is too important to put into the hands of those who don't do more than "roll the dice" to decide where to make their mark.

 

Slinkie

[imsulin]

Good point, slinkiecat. That's why we encourage our clients to read newspapers and watch political broadcasts on TV if they want to. I think that many of our clients are more informed than many other people. They're not unobservant or "dice rollers" by any means!