I think every American I know who’s teaching English has done some sort of Voting and Election lesson. Yesterday, I got hear Hannah’s Electoral College lecture, during which she pulled out the absentee ballot she received too late for it to make it back to her county in time.

Most of us who are actually voting, or at least trying (myself included) did it this way:

1) Send in the Federal Post Card Application. Some districts will accept it by fax or email, but most still require it by post. Most districts will not accept them until forty days before the election.

2. 2)Wait for your absentee ballot to arrive
   

3) When your absentee ballot still has not come and it’s getting close to election time (Russian mail is slow), print out the Federal Write-In Ballot and a sample ballot, if your district provides them

4) Mail the write-in ballot with the hope that the Russian Postal Service will be speedy enough to get your envelope there in time. The deadline varies by district, but for me it had to be postmarked the day before the election or earlier and received within two weeks after the polls closed. Unfortunately, even if it does make that window, it can only be accepted if they received the FPCA within whatever window those are accepted.

There’s also been some talk about some people asking their parents to just forge a signature on a domestic absentee ballot (which can usually be requested electronically), but from what I heard, no one’s parents would agree to it.

Today, I brought in a copy of both the write in ballot and the provisional ballot for District 14 to show my students.