US Government Fails Foreign Voter(s) (Again)

Note: This post as originally started in 2008. I decided to finish and post it today.

Ok, so you might be thinking "Hmm... what is Mike blowing out of proportion now?" Well, nothing.

As a dutiful United States of America citizen, I wanted to vote. I wanted to vote:

1. vote against tyranny disguised as democracy at home and abroad
2. vote against encouraged rampant consumerism disguised as economic stimulus
   
3. vote against suspension of First Amendment Rights disguised national security
4. vote against suspension of the reasonable expectation of privacy disguised national intelligence
5. vote against hidden courts and warrant-less search and seizures disguised as intelligence gathering
   
6. vote against kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, "humane" forced-feeding tubes and torture of foreign nationals disguised as ... well ... just plain hidden!
7. vote against cronyism disguised at political appointments
8. vote against lies disguised as a political party platform
9. vote against blatant ignorance disguised as leadership
10. vote against big business corruption disguised as deregulation legislation
    
11. vote against "more of the same" not well disguised as "4 more years"
12. vote against fear disguised as short term memory loss
    

Its a shame really. I have to much I really want to vote for:

1. Human Integrity (formerly known as American Integrity)
2. American Ingenuity
3. American Freedom
4. an Open America
   
5. America's support of Basic Human Values (even for those that are not Americans)
   
6. an America embracing the path of light, truth and global uplift not darkness and decay
   

So, I want to vote. I've been actively voting for 15 years now and I have a value system that needs to be expressed. So I want to vote.

But wait. Seems like that's not very popular activity, if you're a citizen that doesn't live IN The States. As a dutiful citizen, I waited until told to send postal mail to request my voting ballet from my state. I did so immediately. I know there is less then 40 days for this task to be completed and I am on the ball.

3 weeks later (21 days), I have no ballet. My state apparently is having a problem find it's backside with both hands, much less doing it's appointed duties to issue voting ballets to citizens residing outside the state and country.

I try not to get bent out of shape since I have an information about getting and using an Absentee Ballet. I fill it out but then reach the next problem. If the problem isn't with my state but with the mail system between "here and there", I can't trust the mail systems for something as critically important as my vote. I start looking for other options.

I know the local Embassy can send secure mail to The States. So, being a dutiful citizen, I email them for the specifics of how to deliver my vote for the restoration of Freedom, Liberty and America through the local Embassy.

The response was in fact very quick, thorough, professional, polite and remarkable disappointing. I am told that this is a known problem getting voting materials in time. My state seems to only support voting in person or by U.S. Postal mail. I am told not to rely on the Embassy mail as, while it is secure, it is not guaranteed to be sent to The States with the remaining 15 days. Further, should I take this option anyway, I will have to post U.S. Postage on my envelope which is then put into the regular U.S. Postal mail service once the Embassy mail is state-side. I am in fact about 7 time zones from the nearest U.S. Post Office. This is the same service which may or may not have discarded my voting ballet in the first place. Further it's suggested that I can use the "free postage template from the web site." Funny, I can't find it, even if I wanted to trust the U.S. Postal system to deliver my vote.

What's left? Its suggested that I use a 'popular private sector delivery service' to make certain my vote arrives as its designation on time. As I struggle to summarize to myself this situation, I realize that I'm being told by a representative of my government that its a known problem and you should not use the government agencies or services to insure your vote arrives to be counted.

So, I will arrange to send my vote, ponder if I should spring for the additional fees to have it carried by hand to its destination or trust that the normal "priority" way will get there in time. I feel like I'm buying the right to vote but I know this is only situation because I wanted to see the world.

As the last almost 8 years have very much underlined for me, it seems that one of the American Values that has been lost in the past decade (and probably longer) is the commitment to do a good job completely and assist people above and beyond the call of duty and job descriptions to be successful. While I know there are men and woman that work for and within the government of America who clearly understand and execute this American Value every day (many working, living and dieing [at the whim of corruption] in foreign countries merely because they were asked to serve,) seems like a fair amount of the rest the men and women suffer from an apathy, a degradation of spirit which is distinctly "not American."

Certainly, We The People can do better.