As an Israeli citizen, why should I vote in an American election? Since I live in Jerusalem and don’t plan to be in New York on Election Day, November 3, 2020, how do I request an absentee ballot?
By LEAH HAKIMIANU.S. President Donald Trump reacts to the crowd as he arrives onstage at his first re-election campaign rally in several months in the midst of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S., June 20, 2020(photo credit: REUTERS/LEAH MILLIS)
I am over the age of 18, an American citizen and a registered voter in the State of New York. By meeting these three criteria, I am qualified to vote in the 2020 US Presidential Election and I ponder the questions: why and how?As an Israeli citizen, why should I vote in an American election? Since I live in Jerusalem and don’t plan to be in New York on Election Day, November 3, 2020, how do I request an absentee ballot?WhyOn one hand, a professor at the Hebrew University, Dr, Eli Lederhendler, put it his way: “Personally, since I made aliyah (back in ’81), I have never voted in any American election, as a matter of principle. My take is: if I don’t bear the personal consequences of my balloting choice, nor do I pay my taxes to the US government, by what moral right do I claim standing as a voter?”On the other hand, my Jerusalem neighbor, Art Braunstein, a retired US Foreign Service officer, had a different take on the matter: “I find it a great honor to be both an American, and an Israeli since 1997. In making aliyah, I didn’t turn my back on America, but added Israel into the mix. I find it a civic duty to vote in US elections.”And now that it’s in my hands, I make my decision: Yes, I do want to vote.HowIn the State of New York, ballot requests for the November 2020 federal elections must be received by October 24, 2020. It only took me about 10 minutes and my request was on its way.These were the four easy steps I followed:1) Verified that I am a registered voter in the State of New York by going to the “VoterLookUp” section of their website
2) Googled “Federal Post Card Application (FPCA)” and downloaded the “Voter Registration and Absentee Ballot Request” for citizens residing outside the United States3) Filled out the FPCA and requested that the ballot be sent to me by email4) Emailed the FPCA to the office of the Nassau County Board of Elections, where I am registered to voteAs a follow-up, I called this office after 24 hours to verify that my email was received and my form was correctly filled out. I also mailed them a hard copy. If you send your FPCA by email or fax, you must also send the form by postal mail, so they have an original signature on file.I now wait for an absentee ballot to be emailed to me. The office clerk said: “Probably by the end of September.” I kept her name and number in case there’s a delay.There is no need to worry about having your vote counted. According to official documents: “Absentee ballots submitted in accordance with state laws are counted for every election… All ballots are counted in the final totals for every election — and every vote (absentee or in-person) counts the same.”BC (Before Corona), absentee ballots in the US were primarily used by voters who were “absent from their voting residence.” In light of the coronavirus outbreak, states are modifying their absentee/mail-in voting procedures. Every state’s election rules are different.In November 2016 Lahav Harkov reported in The Jerusalem Post that there were about “30,000 votes coming from Israel.” How many will there be in 2020? It’s in our hands.For more general information about absentee voting in US elections from Israel, check out:il.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/voting/
