Warden Message Dated March 18, 2010

New Law Makes Absentee Voting Easier for Overseas Americans

On October 28, 2009, Congress enacted the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act.  This legislation amends existing law regarding overseas voting in federal elections, and should make voting easier for overseas Americans.

New Procedures for 2010 Elections

Beginning with the November 2010 general election, and for all subsequent general, special, and primary elections, states will be required to mail out ballots at least 45 days prior to an election for a federal office.  This requirement may cause some states to select earlier primary dates in order to comply with the 45 day mailing deadline, or to request waivers due to special circumstances.

In addition to mailing ballots to overseas voters, the states will be required, at the voter’s request, to provide registration forms, absentee ballot request forms, and blank ballots via fax or email.  However, each state’s laws determine whether ballot requests or voted ballots can be returned via fax or email.  The new law prohibits states from rejecting marked ballots based
on notarization, paper size, or paper weight requirements.  The witnessing requirements of individual states remain in place.

Overseas Absentee Ballot Requests

Effective immediately, states will no longer be required by federal law to continue to mail election materials to overseas addresses (even when they are determined to be invalid) for two complete general election cycles on the basis of a single ballot request. It will now be up to each state to determine how long to continue to send out election materials before requiring overseas voters to submit new ballot requests.  This change, sought by local election officials, should greatly decrease the volume of voting materials sent abroad to addresses where Americans no longer reside.

State Department Recommendations

In light of these changes, the Department of State recommends that all U.S. voters residing abroad request absentee ballots from their local election officials at the start of each calendar year, and whenever there is a change of address, change of e-mail address, or change of name, by completing and sending in a Federal Post Card Application (FPCA).  To locate information on your specific state’s requirements, and to obtain an on-line version of the FPCA, please visit www.fvap.org.  Voters may also pick up a hard copy of the FPCA from any U.S. embassy or consulate.  FPCAs may be mailed to your local voting officials in the United States via international mail or from any U.S. embassy or consulate.  Many states allow U.S. citizens overseas to submit the FPCA by e-mail or fax.

The Department of State strongly encourages all U.S. overseas voters to provide email addresses or fax numbers on their FPCAs to enable local election officials to transmit election materials in the fastest manner available, which should then allow sufficient time for the return of voted ballots.  For information regarding your specific state, please visit www.fvap.org.

Emergency Ballots

The Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB) serves as an emergency ballot for the November general elections for federal offices, although some states also permit its use for elections for state and local offices. Beginning in January 2011, the new law allows use of the FWAB for primary, special, and runoff elections for federal offices.  Voters who request an absentee ballot
in advance of their state’s ballot request deadline, but who fail to receive an official ballot from local election officials in time to vote, should complete the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot and send it back to local election officials in time for it to be counted. An on-line version of the FWAB, together with instructions for its use, is available at www.fvap.gov.

Questions?

The Voting Assistance Officer at the U.S. Consulate in Merida is also available to answer questions about absentee voting.  To contact the Voting Assistance Officer, send an e-
mail to mercons@state.gov.

On February 9, 2010, the Department of State proposed fee increases for American Citizen Services.  The fee increase is currently in a “period for public comment” and would take effect later this year.

In particular, passport services fees will increase as follows:

Passport Renewal for adults– $75 to $110.

First-time Passport Application or Replacement of Lost/Stolen Passport from $100 to $135.

Passport for Minors:  from $85 to $105

Report of Birth Abroad $65 to $100

Also, an $82 fee is proposed for adding passport pages.

You can find the complete list of proposed new fees at our website: http://merida.usconsulate.gov.  (use specific site where it is located). You will be able to follow a link on that site to comment up to March 10, 2010.

You may renew your passport at any time by making an appointment with the Consulate at http://merida.usconsulate.gov/merida/passports.html.

There is a Consular Agent Office in Playa del Carmen that is an extension of the Consulate in Merida. It’s located on block south of Juarez on Calle 1 Sur between Ave 15 and 20 as I recall. There is also a Consular Agent in Cozumel.

Consular Agent in Playa del Carmen

“The Palapa”

Calle 1 Sur, entre Avenida 15 y Avenida 20
77710 Playa del Carmen, Q. Roo

Mon, Wed, Fri: 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Tels: [52] (984) 873-0303
Fax: [52] (984) 873-0481
Emergency Cellphone: [52] (984) 807-8355

E-mail: playausca@hotmail.com

Consular Agent: Samantha Mason

The bar is still open…more news when it happens.

One bedroom and studio apartments in Playa del Carmen, Mexico for rent three blocks from the beach. The apartments are located on Calle 44 btw 10 Ave & 15 Ave.  All utilities and cable TV and Wireless Internet are included. You can also access the rooftop terrace and lounge with sea views of the Carribean.

Available short term for $30.00 USD per day, $500.00 per week, or rent by the month for $850.00USD.

Contact: Melissa Meno at  984 745 02 74 English/Espanol
Email: croccondos@gmail.com

Property management is provided by Vimex Condos who have a friendly bilingual staff ready to assist you. Please contact them through their website for more information.

This off the beaten tourist path location translates into lower prices and a variety of Mexican art and deco items that’s distinctively different from what you will find on 5th Ave. You can visit their blog here.

Now we are both very glad that we made the decision not to own one, and we found there are new reasons not to. One is that public transportation is very affordable and is nominal in comparison to the cost of owning a car. We live close to two large grocery stores, Mega and WalMart, and if we buy more than we can carry home on foot, we can get a taxi. We also travel by taxi to Sam’s Club, the mall and anywhere else that we think is too far to walk. Easy! If we want to go to Tulum or other places for the day, we get a colectivo (a van that carries 12 to 15 people) or ride on one of the very nice, air conditioned buses for a small fee. Another reason is that people drive a little crazy here, and it’s probably much safer to leave the driving to people who are very experienced in dealing with it.

 Today, I learned another reason for not owning a car. The following link on the In The Roo public forum was posted by a friend of ours regarding a scam situation involving him and some local taxi drivers.

http://intheroo.com/playa-del-carmen-forums/playa-del-carmen/1146-beware-latest-taxi-scam.html

If you are not familiar with the In The Roo web site (http://intheroo.com/), it’s a great place to visit for information about Playa del Carmen. They even have an interactive map of the area.

The subject here, however, is the wonderful mango. When we lived in Belize, the “mango man” would wheel around town on his big tricycle with a large basket in front full of tropical fruits all cut up and stored in baggies. The mangos were in perfect little wedges and that you could just pop in your mouth and relish. Yum! But when I tried to cut up a mango at home, those little slippery critters made a huge mess that made me want to dump the whole thing in the trash can. I thought there must be a better way, and came upon the Yucatan way to eat a mango. Now eating a mango is a delight instead of a debacle. Here’s how.

First, hold the end of the mango that was previously attached to the tree up and using a sharp knife, slice down one side.

Do the same thing on the other side so that you have two slices. The center part contains the seed.

Now you can spoon each slice out of the skin like you would a half of avacado.

Then pick up the semilla (the part with the seed) and peel off the skin on either side.

Now you can nibble the remaining flesh clinging to the large hard seed. (This part is Mother Nature’s natural dental floss.)

Eat as much as you want, and then.…you are done! How easy is that!

Rinconada del Sol is located in Centro Playa del Carmen. It may be the perfect location, only a block from Mega with the Perlas Mall next door. Walmart is four blocks away, 5th Ave is three blocks, the beach five.

Vacation rentals available now, and three to six month rentals are available May 1, 2008. Three month rental is $1300 per month plus electricity. Six month rental is $1200 per month plus electricity. Email janaita@yahoo.com for more information.

I also found some real American sour cream – a rare find in Playa del Carmen.

We enjoyed looking around, and when we asked for horseradish, a man went back to the refrigerated area and got a jar for us. Here’s some of the items we saw.