Oops! - Careful When You Post Your Absentee Ballot

This week I received my absentee ballot for a state primary in the US state where I vote. I quickly filled it out and mailed it yesterday. In this morning's post, I found what looked like my absentee ballot for the US presidential election. Impossible, of course, since both parties have not yet nominated their candidates.

In fact, the UK Post Office had simply delivered the ballot I posted back to me. Even though it had a full address, a city and a Zip Code, I'd forgotten to put USA on the preprinted envelope!

Doh!

It's an easy mistake to make. The envelopes that come with US Absentee Ballots are preprinted with, perhaps, the town and Zip already stamped on. It is easy to just send them off.

Don't make my mistake - remember to write USA on the preprinted envelope you receive with your Absentee ballot. The clerk in your local, foreign, post office may have no idea that Ottuma, Iowa and Kewanee, Illinois are in the USA.

And don't forget to put a stamp on the envelope too. It may look like it is postage paid but that's only if you mail it from within the USA.

• Find out more about Absentee Voting from Abroad
• Keep up with Election 2008 on About.com