Via Wired News, Kim Zetter:
I'm receiving e-mail from a number of readers who have not received absentee ballots they requested or who mailed in their ballots but had the ballot returned to them by the postal service.
A reader has pointed me to this site for overseas voters, which discusses back-up ballots for those who requested an absentee ballot but did not receive one. The rules vary state by state but in some locations you can actually fax your back-up ballot to election officials.
The site only discusses overseas voters so if you're in the U.S. and did not receive your ballot you should check with your local election office about what you should do. You should not be denied the right to vote because election officials failed to send you your ballot in time.
The Wired article directs readers to the Federal Voting Assistance web site's FAQ and a state-by-state information page. From the FAQ:
Hardcopies of the back-up Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB) are available through Voting Assistance Officers at military installations or at U.S. embassies/consulates.
An online version is also available, which must be completed, printed, signed, dated, and mailed to your local election official. Check out your state's instructions to determine witness/notary requirements for voted ballots, deadlines, and mailing addresses.
Some states, such as Ohio, allow these back up write-in absentee ballots to be received by election officials up to ten days after Tuesday's election. Others, such as Michigan, require the ballots to be received by election day, tomorrow.
If you know an overseas voter who has not received his or her absentee ballot, please let them know about this back up opportunity to vote.
UPDATE:
Via HuffPo: Second, that overseas voters will skew toward Obama. Although there is no data on voter affiliation abroad, Christine Marques, the president of Democrats Abroad, believes there are simply more Democrats overseas, an assertion that would seem to be supported both by the robust organization Democrats Abroad has created and by the fact that the Obama campaign has hired field directors to organize overseas--a first for a presidential campaign.
Justina in comments:
I'm in Venezuela and sent in a request for an absentee ballot in June, but still have not received one. I contacted State of Hawaii Election Board by e-mail asking what I could do, and they did not tell me about the federal absentee ballot so I thought my chance to vote for Obama was lost. Thanks to your post, I downloaded the federal absentee ballot so all is not lost!