How I Registered to Vote While Living in Japan

In this article I'll talk about the different ways you can vote while living in Japan, or abroad in general.

While I Was Living in the United States

I moved from the United States when I was twenty-four years old. At that time, I'll admit, I had never voted before. I didn't even know how to register to vote. I thought I was enrolled to vote when I got my ID. I know it's silly but that's what I thought. I was around twenty or twenty-one years old when Obama got re-elected for his second term. It had turned out well and I was happy.

The Presidential Election of 2016

When the elections came about in 2016, I only watched from the sidelines. My co-workers at my first job in Japan also weren't registered to vote. I was already in Japan because as I stated, I was afraid that Donald Trump would win the elections. He did. I was devasted. My coworkers and I were devasted. A lot of people were devasted, whether they were American or not.

There wasn't much that could be said between us, we basically had a moment of silence. I texted my friend and she was also devasted, I know a lot of people were. I think I may have even cried after I got home from work. As I should have because he did everything that I knew he would. I was right to be afraid.

He has ruined the United States, in my opinion. And I do feel that people are showing their true colors because they know Donald Trump is also a racist and they are thereby protected. But they didn't know that in the process of electing someone based solely on hate, that it would in return lose them their rights, healthcare, workers protection. And that it would ultimately start a war.

How to Register

Okay, my rant is over. I said all of that only to say that I won't sit on the sidelines this time. I know it is my duty to vote for someone that I truly believe would do a great job as out president. It is a HUGE responsibility that we give to one individual, and we shouldn't give it away so easily.

Anyway this is how I registered to vote. First, I typed in Google, “register to vote from overseas”. There was a website about how to vote as an absentee. You can vote from abroad if you are a US citizen. I was assisted to go to this website: https://www.fvap.gov/

This website is the Federal Voting Assistance Program. It asks you what state that you lived in before, or the state in which you have your ID. They direct you to a different page, they state the requirements to vote, and they state the form you must fill out. The form is called the Federal Post Card Application. You can fill this form out online, and there's even a way for you to sign it. When I first did it online, I had some trouble so I had to print it out and scan it once I was done.

It is also stated that you can go to the embassy and get the Federal Post Card Application. You can get the rules on how to vote, in your state, from the embassy. It's not as hard as it seems, and it is well worth it in the end.

The Stipulations

I didn't know this, but you must register to vote on a yearly basis. That means you must fill out this form again. I am in contact with the person who oversees voting in my district. She emailed me that I must register again.

The great thing about voting from abroad is that you can choose how you vote. You can choose to receive the vote by mail, fax, or even email. I chose email, even though it could be a risky move, but I don't want my vote to get lost in the mail.

Good luck on voting for this next election. I hope all goes well with your registration, and by the time the election rolls out, you'll be ready!
Until next time.