The State of Louisiana will conduct two special primary elections on Tuesday, March 20, 2021, to fill a vacancy for the 2nd and 5th Congressional Districts. Congressional District 2 includes nearly all of the city of New Orleans and stretches west and north to Baton Rouge. Congressional District 5 includes rural northeastern Louisiana and much of central Louisiana, as well as the northern part of Louisiana’s Florida parishes in southeast Louisiana, taking in Monroe, Alexandria, Opelousas, Amite, and Bogalusa.
Overseas citizens who are registering to vote for the first time can use the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) available at fvap.gov/FPCA. A fillable PDF is also available. Voters must submit their completed, signed FPCA to their local election officials in Louisiana via email, mail, or fax by February 17, 2021.
Those who have already registered to vote but have not yet requested their ballot can do so by submitting the FPCA to their local election officials in Louisiana via email, mail, or fax by 4:30 p.m. CT on March 19, 2021.
Finally, voters who already registered and requested their absentee ballot must return their completed, signed absentee ballot by mail or fax before 8:00 p.m. CT on March 20, 2021.
Voters who have not received their requested state ballot can use the backup ballot called the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB), available at fvap.gov/FWAB. A fillable PDF is also available. Voters must return their completed, signed backup ballot by mail or fax before 8:00 p.m. CT on March 20, 2021.
FVAP offers an email-to-fax service for overseas citizens, who do not have access to a fax machine. Voters can email their completed ballot to fax@FVAP.gov before the ballot return deadline. A member of the FVAP team will fax the ballot to the appropriate election office on behalf of the voter. Detailed instructions and county contact information are available at fvap.gov/louisiana. You can check the status of your absentee ballot by contacting your election office directly.
If you choose to return your paper voting forms or ballots to local election officials by mail, you can do so through a professional courier service, or through the U.S. Embassy Guatemala City’s Diplomatic Post Office (DPO). The Embassy DPO can transport your ballot to a U.S. sorting facility (allowed for voting purposes only); however, your voting materials must be in a sealed envelope addressed to your election office. You also must include U.S. postage or print off a pre-paid postage envelope to ensure delivery to the proper local election authorities.
If using the DPO, voting material can be mailed directly to the Embassy through Cargo Expreso or Guatex, or dropped off at the screening booth of the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala City, located at the corner of 7 Street “A” and 1 Avenue in Zone 10. The hours of acceptance are from 07:00 a.m. to 02:00 p.m. from Monday to Thursday. Please maintain social distancing, wear a mask, and stay home if you are sick.
We encourage all overseas U.S. citizens to return their ballots as early as possible. Due to the COVID-19 related restrictions and potential delays to outgoing mail, we advise that all forms and ballots be submitted to the U.S. Embassy by February 27, 2021.
If you would like more information on the Federal Voting Assistance Program, or need help with the absentee voting process, please go to FVAP.gov or call FVAP at 703-588-1584 (toll free 1-800-438-VOTE or DSN 425-1584) or email (vote@fvap.gov).
If you have any questions about registering to vote overseas, please contact the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala City at VoteGuatemala@state.gov.
Remember, your vote counts!
Assistance:
U.S. Embassy Guatemala City
https://gt.usembassy.gov
Tel. (502) 2326-4000
Amcitsguatemala@state.gov
State Department – Consular Affairs
888-407-4747 or 202-501-4444
Guatemala Country Information and Travel Advisory Page
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