Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Beat Long Poll Lines with Absentee Ballots from StateDemocracy.org

Many state and local election officials are encouraging voters to use Absentee Ballots to avoid the long lines and delays expected at the polls on November 4th due to the record-breaking surge in newly registered voters.

Voters in most states still have time to obtain an Absentee Ballot by simply downloading an official application form available through www.StateDemocracy.org, a completely FREE public service from the nonprofit StateDemocracy Foundation.

According to the Early Voting Information Center, about a third of voters could cast their ballots (either in person or by absentee ballot) before Election Day -- up from 20% in 2004. Twenty-eight states allow no-excuse absentee voting by mail, while 22 states and the District of Columbia require an excuse to vote absentee by mail.

The StateDemocracy.org website presents each state’s complete voting requirements governing absentee ballots, voting hours, identification, write-ins, etc. In addition, this one-stop portal also offers a number of other helpful voter assistance tools, including:

- A Polling Place Locator for any precinct nationwide
- Links to all state and local Election Boards
- Links to lawmakers on the federal level and in all 50 states

StateDemocracy.org also offers free widgets that other websites can install to help their own visitors get absentee ballots or find their local polling place.
Since 2001, hundreds of thousands of citizens have benefited from the multitude of online civic engagement tools StateDemocracy.org provides to further the StateDemocracy Foundation’s mission of “Delivering Democracy to your Desktop!”


Sincerely,
Ken Laureys, Executive Director
StateDemocracy Foundation
Ken.Laureys@StateDemocracy.org

P.S. Listed below is each state’s deadline for submitting an application for an Absentee Ballot.

Absentee Ballot Application Submission Deadlines
From http://www.longdistancevoter.org/absentee_ballot_deadlines

States 2008 Deadline for a Mailed Application Requesting an Absentee Ballot
Alabama By October 30
Alaska By October 25
Arizona By October 24
Arkansas By October 28
California By October 28
Colorado By October 24
Connecticut By October 21
Delaware By October 31
Dist. of Columbia By October 28
Florida By October 29
Georgia By October 31
Hawaii By October 28
Idaho By October 29
Illinois By October 30
Indiana By October 27
Iowa By October 31
Kansas By October 31
Kentucky By October 28
Louisiana By October 31
Maine By October 21
Maryland By October 28
Massachusetts By November 3
Michigan By November 1
Minnesota By October 21
Mississippi By October 21
Missouri By October 29
Montana By November 3
Nebraska By October 27
Nevada By October 28
New Hampshire By October 21.
New Jersey By October 28
New Mexico By October 31
New York By October 28
North Carolina By October 28
North Dakota By October 21
Ohio By November 1
Oklahoma By October 29
Oregon By October 31
Pennsylvania By October 28
Rhode Island By October 14
South Carolina By October 31
South Dakota By November 4 at 3 pm
Tennessee By October 28
Texas By October 28
Utah By October 31
Vermont By November 3
Virginia By October 28
Washington By October 21
West Virginia By October 29
Wisconsin By October 30
Wyoming By October 21

Friday, October 17, 2008

QSS Founder - The new Chairman of StateDemocracy Foundation



After selling QSS for $250 million last year, Frank Islam tells us he's supposed to be retired, but as we found out earlier this week, he is anything but. He's running FI Investment Group, hosting a television show, and recently signed on as chairman of the State Democracy Foundation, a Bowie-based non-profit portal providing comprehensive voter registration information, online voting tools, and connecting citizens with national and state legislators. But will it connect us with Joe the Plumber?



Frank met State Democracy founder Shukoor Ahmed years ago when Shukoor was running for the Maryland House of Delegates. The two remained friends, and following Frank's "retirement," Shukoor approached him to become the new chair. "With the times we're in, it is imperative that people reach out to their leaders, and we give them the information they need to do so," Frank says, noting the site has increased traffic 400% in the past month.

Here at Frank's Tysons office, State Democracy executive director Ken Laureys tells us he didn't have to think hard about the new chairman: "Frank built a quarter of a billion dollar company, so who better to take our organization to the next level?" Even un-retired, Frank has still managed some travel. He's just back from a European vacation where he traced his wife's Dutch ancestry, finding her parent's original farm and church, which was the same one that Vincent Van Gogh's father once preached at. (Doesn't this story end with Tom Hanks fending off Opus Dei?) Frank also traveled to Barcelona and visited the building where Christopher Columbus met Queen Isabella upon returning from America.

Source: http://www.bisnow.com/washington_dc_tech_news_story.php?p=1651