Absentee Ballot Request for US-based and Overseas Voters Abroad, Election Dates / Deadlines, and How to Vote in your State

The Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, D.C., a not-for-profit organization that promotes bipartisanship and provides policy insights and research with the aim of supporting state legislators in passage of laws, has published a recent study which asserts that turnover among election administrators has been growing across the United States. The reasons for such development are multi-fold, and action has to be taken to prepare the country for the smooth conduct of our democratic elections.

The analysis is based on the dataset of 18,644 local chief election officials across 6,290 jurisdictions in 50 U.S. states. According to the study, increased hostility towards election officials, the growing complexity of the role, and an aging workforce are contributing to the increase in turnover.

If you’ve had even half an ear open to the news about elections over the past years, it’s likely that you are not only tired of all the negative news, but you might also have gotten the opinion that voting in the US is a terrible, horrible, no-good, complicated, difficult, complex process. And a few other things, too! That would be no surprise. The media around elections seems relentless and overwhelmingly negative.

Help is on the way! This good news is courtesy of the researchers at the esteemed Center for Elections Innovation and Research (CEIR) and their recent report on the expansion of voting before Election Day.

Several methods of voting implemented over the last two decades make voting more convenient for all citizens no matter their residential situation. Most states now offer some mix of no-excuse absentee balloting, early voting, in-person absentee voting, emergency balloting, and same day registration and voting.

Imagine it’s Election Day and you want to vote in person. You love the connection to your community and the buzz of fulfilling your civic duty. Sometimes there is a bake sale outside of your polling place and most times you can proudly unpeel your “I Voted” sticker to wear as a badge of honor.

New Jersey voter Steven McCoy, often lauded as the World’s First Black Deaf-Blind Journalist, recalls the excitement he had about voting before he became visually impaired.

“This is something within my household that we always had; we always spoke about voting. So I couldn’t wait...