Voting Information from US Embassy in Tel Aviv

Dear American citizens:

New regulations for overseas voting are in effect for 2010. To be sure you get your ballot, overseas voters are strongly encouraged to re-file the official registration/ballot request every election year. For more information, visit the Federal Voting Assistance Program at www.fvap.gov  or the non-partisan Overseas Vote Foundation at https://www.overseasvotefoundation.org.   All voting registration forms and absentee ballots may be obtained on these websites. The FVAP and the Overseas Vote Foundation both have on-line tools to assist with completing your forms.  

Generally, all U.S. citizens 18 years or older who are or will be residing outside the United States during an election period are eligible to vote absentee in any election for federal office.  This includes primary, run-off and special elections that occur throughout the year, as well as the Presidential general elections.  This year’s general election will include all the seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and one-third of the seats in the U.S. Senate.  Some states also allow overseas voters to vote in elections for state and local offices, as well as for state and local referendums.  For information regarding your specific state, visit the FVAP or the Overseas Vote Foundation website. 

Voting eligibility and residency requirements are determined by the individual U.S. states.  Visit the FVAP for information regarding your state of legal residence.  Your "state of legal residence" for voting purposes is generally the state where you last resided immediately prior to departure from the United States.  Voting rights extend to overseas citizens even though they may no longer own property or have other ties to their last state of residence, and even if an intent to return to that state may be uncertain. For those U.S. citizens who have never resided in the United States, eighteen states allow eligible U.S. citizens to register where a parent would be eligible to vote.  

Voting for candidates for federal offices does not affect your federal or state tax liability.

If you need specific assistance from the U.S. Embassy, contact our switchboard during office hours (03-519-7575). In case of an emergency outside of office hours, contact 03-519-7551 and your call will be transferred to the Embassy’s duty officer.  For routine inquiries, please email the American Citizen Services Unit at AMCTelAviv@state.gov.   To subscribe to receive additional Warden and other messages from the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, go to the following link and enter your email address in the yellow box on the right-hand side of the screen: http://usembassy-israel.org.il/consular/acs/index.aspx.  You can also follow Consular Section news on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ConsularSectionUSEmbassyTelAviv.  Thank you.