American Views Abroad

 
Some Americans wishing to register to vote have not received the proper information from certain U.S. Embassies and Consulates. I repeat the mail received from American Voices Abroad in Berlin (see below). If anyone reading this has had problems getting information from the U.S. Consulate in Hamburg please contact us at American Views Abroad so that we can document and follow-up on it. THERE IS STILL TIME TO REGISTER!

My experience with the Consulate is the following: I had called them a few weeks ago inquiring about my registration which never reached the Board of Elections and was given the toll-free number for Germany to get voting information.

Here is the mail from American Voices Abroad:

Dear AVA and Liaisons,

Some of you may have read the New York Times article of Saturday two weeks ago in which it was stated that the Consulate in Argentina had a taped voice message stating that people had to be registered three weeks in advance in order to vote -- effectively disenfranchising anyone who had not yet registered and who heard the message.

Here in Berlin, we have had some similar problems. For example, about two weeks ago we inquired regarding getting a largish number of Federal Write-in Absentee Ballots and were told that the ballots could only be given out one at a time because they all must be notarized at the Consulate! This is of course completely wrong information, since only Mississippi and Puerto Rico require notarization of the ballot.

The most respected city paper in Berlin, the Tagesspiegel, took this up in an article citing me and Henry Nickels of Republicans Abroad, who also complained of the ineptness of the Consulate. There was one immediate result, which is that the Consulate's hours were extended for voting matters. Instead of closing at 12:00, they close at 5:00, and this has made a real difference to some people with jobs who had to go there, for example a Michigan voter requiring notarization of their registration. However, when people call the Embassy, they are still told that the Consulate closes at 12:00.

Moreover, personnel of the Consulate in Berlin still give false advice. For example, a few days ago I called the Consulate and asked whether I could get an emergency write-in ballot to send to Colorado. I was told I could, if I was already registered, and that the Consulate would send it out for me. I said I did not think there was enough time for mailing, since the Consular mail sometimes takes 2 weeks. I asked if the Consulate would fax my ballot for me. Well, I was told that NO states accept faxed ballots! Again false information -- Colorado is a state which does accept faxed ballots. I said that I was certain that Colorado accepted faxed ballots, and the Consular employee looked it up, agreed with me, and said the Consulate would fax my ballot. But what if I had not known the regulations?

Is this just ineptness, or is it purposeful? We in Berlin have trained (in a coalition with Democrats Abroad and Americans Overseas for Kerry) about 60 voting registration volunteers. The training takes between 45 minutes and an hour and a half. Our volunteers make few mistrakes. Why is our Embassy and Consulate not able to train their employees to adequately assist voters?

What is disconcerting is that, if this is a pattern, it amounts to a pattern of disenfranchisement. For example, if someone who does not have enough time left to mail his/her ballot is told that faxing is impossible, that person will give up on trying to vote.

Also, over and over again we have been told by people registering for the first time in their lives -- particularly working-class people here such as African-American ex-soldiers -- that the reason they have never registered before is because of the restricted Consulate hours which would force them to take a day off work to come register there. People here in Berlin also report that the Consulate virtually never picks up the phone during the only phone hours of 2 to 4 in the afternoon.

After the election, we are surely going to want to demand some changes in how absentee voting is handled, for example, moving the FVAP out of the Pentagon. It would also be very helpful to know how the Consulates in a number of countries and areas are performing. THIS IS THE WEEK IN WHICH TO FIND OUT, POSING AS VOTERS IN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS.

Can you help this week? It won't take long. Just ask a few of your members to call your "local" Consulate and ask

1) How to get a Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot. Will they mail it to you? What hours are they open? Then ask how to send the Write-in Ballot to the US; for example whether to send it by fax and whether the Consulate will help. (For the latter, be sure to pick a state that allows faxing of the ballot.)

2) How to register to vote and whether the Consulate can help. (Pick a state which allows very late registration such as Nov. 1st.)

etc., etc.

Please make notes regarding difficulties in reaching personnel at the Consulate and the accuracy or inaccuracy of the advice they give.

We would like to put this information together and make use of it in discussions after the election.

Thanks in advance...

Best regards.

Elsa Rassbach
Berlin Liaison

- posted by Fred @ 2:11 PM