International Vote From Abroad Day

Everything has a “day” now, right? Today (Friday the 15th of January) is International Vote From Abroad Day. If you live overseas, you must submit an updated Federal Postcard Application every year to your local election office to ensure that you can vote in any federal elections for that year. (Don’t worry - if you miss a year, it doesn’t mean you can’t vote in the future.) While it isn’t a big election year in 2021, it is a good idea to get in the habit of updating every year so you’re not unprepared when it counts. Also, considering how bizarre life has been in 2020 and 2021, could something unprecedented and weird happen this year? I won’t rule anything out at this point because who had “vegan shaman wearing fur storms the Capitol” on their Bingo card? Certainly not me. So consider this your friendly reminder to update your vote registration if you’re so inclined.

Some useful resources:

Vote From Abroad - non-partisan platform that helps US citizens vote from abroad by producing the necessary Federal forms.

Vote.org - has state-by-state information readily available.

Democrats Abroad - has an active New Zealand branch.

Republicans Overseas - does not have an active New Zealand branch.