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Contents

Voter Registration / Ballot Request – Online
Voter Registration / Ballot Request – Personal
Promotional material and publicity
Polls and Predictions

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It's time to Get Out The Vote (GOTV) again! This time for the Midterm Elections on November 3^rd.

Voter registration team members from Democrats Abroad - Berlin (DA) and American Voices Abroad (AVA) are gearing up to Get Out The Vote again and personally register American expats in Berlin for the midterm elections. As most Americans in Berlin tend to be registered already, the primary message now is “Request your absentee ballot!”

Voter Registration / Ballot Request - Online

Voters can fill out an online-assisted registration and application for an absentee ballot at one of these three websites:

Overseas Vote Foundation is a non-partisan site. It has a Voter Journey MapTM

VoteFromAbroad is from the Democratic Party. Application for membership is an additional option.

Information is also available directly from the U.S. government's Federal Voting Assistance Program. The official Federal Post Card Application can be downloaded there directly.

In most cases, the application needs to be printed out, signed, and mailed to hometown election offices. VoteFromAbroad has a special feature of inserting a photo of your signature online on the application so that you can e-mail it in straight to your local election official. The option is not available though for all states.
The possibility to correspond by e-mail has become standard. That is, the registration/application can be scanned back in once it's been signed and sent to the election office by e-mail as an attachment. The ballot itself can optionally be received then via e-mail to be printed out. This finally can be scanned in again, and, if the option is provided, can sent back along with a signed voter declaration.
Do make sure you know whether you can return your ballot via e-mail, fax, or by post if it is mandatory.

Voter Registration / Ballot Request - Personal

Voter registration team members, generally for VoteFromAbroad, can personally help with registration or ballot requests at registration tables at various events around Berlin. I am organizing, participating in, or know about the following past and planned events (click on the pictures for a larger image):

20 April John F Kennedy School high school at the Vote from Abroad table of the Democrats Abroad - Berlin
22 April at the Hertie School on Friedrichstraße
Saturday 9 May 14:00 to 16:00 at the Another Country Bookstore at Riemannstraße 7
Sunday 17 May 13:00 to 15:00 at the DOES ART MATTER? event with Catherine Filloux in the English Theatre Berlin in Kreuzberg. Sponsored by American Voices Abroad.
Sunday 24 May 12:00 to 14:00 at the American Church in Berlin on Dennewitzplatz
Sunday 31 May 15:30 to 18:00 at the Vagabund Kesselhaus
Saturday 6 and 20 June 10:00 to 15:00 at the Kollwitzplatz Saturday Market at Wörtherstrasse and Kollwitzstraße
Saturday 13 June 10:00 to 15:00 at the John F Kennedy School Fleamarket in Zehlendorf
With Democrats Abroad: Thursday 2 July 16:30-19:30 at the Markthalle Neun Saturday 4 July 17:00 at the 4th of July party at the Vagabund Brauerei in Wedding Sunday 26 July at Barcomi's
2 September John F Kennedy School parents information evening
9 September at the Hertie School again
11 September at the Maybachufer Mark in Neukölln 26 September 11-16 at the Neuer Markt am Südstern And at the Kollwitzplatz Market various Staturdays through September
30 September at the CIEE - Council of International Educational Exchange and again on 7 September
8-10, 13-17 October at the show "The West Ain't What It Used To Be" at the English Theatre Berlin

Voter registration and consultation is also possible occasionally at monthly meetings of
American Voices Abroad (AVA) and Democrats Abroad - Berlin (DA).

More locations planned and suggestions are always welcome! Let me or the Get Out The Vote coordinator of Democrats Abroad Berlin know.

Promotional material and publicity

We try to get Americans interested in voting abroad by distributing flyers in American restaurants, stores, and other institutions.

Downloadable flyers with some of the above information in various formats and promoting the different websites:

• Full page flyer VoteFlyer
• Page with 4 times 1/4 page leaflet VoteFlyer4

In the name of American Voices Abroad, I placed ads in the local English-language magazine The Berliner in September/October. One print ad and one Instagram ad with the Overseas Vote Foundation as the recommendation:

Polls and Predictions

Electoral-vote.com is always a pretty accurate source to follow the tendencies.
RealClearPolitics is pretty good too.