ASK THE CONSUL: ABSENTEE VOTING IN UKRAINE

Hi. My name is Leon Gendin. I'm a Vice Consul at the U.S. Consulate here in Kyiv, Ukraine, and today, since it's the November month - the month for elections, the topic for this month is the absentee voting process.

You complete an application form 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 U.S. Government website for overseas absentee voting assistance is the Federal Voting Assistance Program website at www.fvap.gov. It has a wealth of information about absentee voting, including the downloadable absentee ballot application, state-specific instructions for completing the form, links to state and local officials, and a downloadable emergency ballot.

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 www.fvap.gov.

To register to vote and to request an absentee ballot, download the Federal Post Card Application from the Federal Voting Assistance Program website. You can also obtain this form from overseas American citizens groups or from the U.S. Embassy/Consulate. Fill it out and send it in, following the guidelines for your state. A postage-paid envelope template, valid if you are using the U.S. postal system, is also available,

Each state has different voting procedures. Information about your state's procedures is available at the Federal Voting Assistance Program website. A calendar of election dates is also available at that website.

States sometimes make last-minute changes. There may be late changes to your state's voting calendar, procedures or deadlines. When these occur, the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) will issue a news release. These news releases are also available at the Federal Voting Assistance Program website.

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. The emergency ballot (form SF-186 or Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot) is available on the Internet at the same website.

The Voting Assistance Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Kiev, Ukraine is available to answer questions about absentee voting. To contact the Voting Assistance Officer, call (+38 044) 490-4445 or (+38 044) 490-4422. You can also send an e-mail . Again, we strongly encourage you to begin this process as soon as possible.

Thank you.