In another life, my friend Emefa Agawu would be the voting czar of the DNC. Last year, she was on a one-woman mission to make sure everyone who crossed her path voted in the tight CT election that secured a second term for Governor Dan Malloy.
Inspired by Emefa's zeal for getting people to rock the vote, I'm on a mission to encourage every American abroad to vote. I think local elections are just as important, if not more important than presidential elections, but it's always the race for the White House that garners the most attention. So if you're not going to vote for your local election, you can at least vote in a presidential election.
Yesterday, I got an email from a former Princeton in Africa fellow with some useful information on overseas voting that I'll share below:
If you'd like to vote in the presidential primaries (as well as more local elections), please go to www.overseasvotefoundation.org. Depending on your home state, there is still time to register for the primaries and in many states you can do the entire absentee voting registration process, and even vote, electronically.
If you're only abroad temporarily, when you get back to the US the following two sites might be worthwhile for you. If you end up outside of your home state but want to continue to vote in your home state (e.g. you move to NYC but want to vote in your home state), you can use www.longdistancevoter.org. If you need to register in a new state (or register to vote for the first time), you can find a guide here: https://vote.usa.gov
Given the enormous influence that America has on the lives of people outside its borders, including Africa, it is our responsibility to use this enormous privilege we have to take part in shaping America’s future and the future of humanity.