We strongly encourage you to register to vote and/or request absentee ballots as early in the year as possible to ensure you will receive all ballots for which you are eligible.

The following is the basic absentee voting process:

• You complete an application form (see below) and send it to local election officials in the U.S.
• The local official approves your request, or contacts you for further information
• The local official sends you an absentee ballot
• You vote the ballot and send it back in time to meet your state's deadline

The official US Government website for overseas absentee voting assistance is the Federal Voting Assistance Program website at www.fvap.gov.

Overseas citizens groups help people to vote. We encourage you to contact Democrats Abroad, Republicans Abroad or other American citizens groups or organizations for assistance in registering to vote and requesting absentee ballots. Links to these groups are at http://www.fvap.gov/links/ocitlinks.html.

To register to vote and to request an absentee ballot, download the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) at http://www.fvap.gov/pubs/onlinefpca.html. Fill it out and send it in, following the guidelines for your state. Information about your state's procedures is available at http://www.fvap.gov/pubs/vag/vagchapter3.html.

To check the status of your voter registration, contact your State or Local Election Office. Simply visit the www.fvap.gov website and select the State Election Site. Once at this homepage, you’ll find a great deal of election information including how to contact your local election office.

You can vote by absentee ballot from France, even if you were never registered to vote. For voting purposes you must register using the address in the state where you last resided immediately prior to your departure from the United States. If you never resided in the United States, you may register and vote in the last state your parents, or grandparents, resided in before your birth.

Be an educated voter. Non-partisan information about candidates, their voting records, and their positions on issues is widely available and easy to obtain via the Internet. Use the links appearing on the Federal Voting Assistance Program website or choose any one of several search engines to locate articles and information.

An emergency ballot is available. If the ballot receipt deadline is approaching, and you have not yet received the blank ballot from local officials, you can download an emergency ballot, write in the names of the candidates and the offices for which they are running, and send it back in time to meet your state's ballot receipt deadline.

Additionally, the Voting Assistance Officer at the U.S. Consulate General Marseille, the American Presence Post Toulouse and the Consular Agency in Nice is available to answer questions about absentee voting. To contact the Voting Assistance Officer simply call your nearest Consulate, APP, or Consular Agency , or send an e-mail to citizeninfo@state.gov.

If your election materials require a witness or notary signature, please see information concerning notarial services provided at the U.S. Consulate General Marseille, APP Toulouse, or the Consular Agency in Nice. You can get information regarding appointments for this and other American Citizen Services by calling or visiting the Embassy Paris website at www.amb-usa.fr and then clicking on the U.S. Consulate-General Marseille link.

Again, we strongly encourage you to begin this process as soon as possible.

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Philip J. Breeden
Consul General - Marseille
Tel: 33 (0) 491-54-96-14
Fax: 33 (0) 491-55-09-47
Email: breedenpx@state.gov
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