"Voting from Morocco" by Colleen Daley
Voting from abroad can be a confusing process for many students. Fortunately, as the Education Abroad Program Manager, I am a US citizen, and have voted from abroad for over 10 years in local, state, primary, and general elections.
Most of the time, you can find information you need about voting abroad on the following websites:
Absentee Voting Information for U.S. Citizens Abroad - Travel.State.gov
Vote from Abroad - Votefromabroad.org
Although Vote from Abroad is sponsored by the organization Democrats Abroad, they are technically a non-partisan entity. I personally have never felt any pressure from them to vote a certain way. They are also the organization that is the easiest to reach out to directly – you can sign up with them, and give them your Moroccan number and your state of residence, and they will call you a month or two before each election in your district.
Some basic tips I have to help make voting from abroad easier are:
Contact your local election officials BEFORE you leave the US. Many of them are approachable in person or over the phone. I currently vote as a resident of Michigan and have the direct email address of the assistant county clerk. By developing the relationship with her over the phone – and visiting in person while back in the States – I can follow up with her to register to vote or ask her any questions I have directly. Election officials truly believe in the work they do, and since they went through a lot in the past few years, they really appreciate the positive personal relationships that can be created with absentee voters.
Also, before you leave, you can submit the completed Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) to your local election officials. You will put Amideast Morocco’s address as your address of record on this application. Another reason it is good to get in contact with your local election official before you leave is to check if they are permitted by state/local laws to email you a ballot, or if they must mail you one. If you can get a physical absentee ballot before you go to Morocco, it will save you time for voting closer to the election, because mail does not always arrive at Amideast efficiently.
Once you get to Amideast Morocco, go over the websites listed above, see if you have any questions, and then come see me to talk about specific issues you might have with voting from your state and/or city. You can always use our American phone as well if you need to call local election officials.
Make sure to mail your ballot as early as you can. For the November 2020 Election, I got my ballot in early September, and mailed it on September 15. I then followed up every two weeks with my election official until she confirmed it had arrived in Michigan.
We hope this is helpful, and are excited to see you in person!
Colleen Daley is the Education Abroad Program Manager at Amideast Morocco.
