Mideast edition, Thursday, June 7, 2007
WASHINGTON — Overseas troops registered to vote in Los Angeles are running out of time to cast a ballot in the special Congressional election being held this month.
The special election is being held to fill the seat vacated by the death of Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald, D-Calif. The six-term congresswoman passed away in April after battling colon cancer.
Seventeen candidates will square off in primary election on June 26. Under state law, if none receive at least 50 percent of the ballots, the top two vote-getters will face off in a general election later this summer.
Overseas servicemembers from the 37th Congressional District don’t have enough time to request or receive a ballot through the mail, but California is one of 34 states that allow military stationed outside the United States to vote via fax.
Servicemembers can register to vote in the election by faxing a federal post card application before June 11. If troops are already registered, they still must make a formal ballot request before June 19.
Copies of both of those forms are available at the Federal Voting Assistance Program Web site, www.fvap.gov.
All completed ballots must be faxed in by 8 p.m. on June 26. California law also permits nonmilitary voters overseas to submit a ballot via fax.
More information on the voting process is available through the voting assistance program, or through unit’s voting representative.
More information on the election and the candidates is available at the Los Angeles County Elections Web site, www.lavote.net.
