Mark your calendars! Next Tuesday January 24, President Obama will present the annual State of the Union Address at 9 pm EST, and all week long, the White House wants to hear from concerned citizens on the topics that most matter to you.
Once again, we will be streaming an enhanced version of the speech that features graphics, data and stats that highlight the issues the President is discussing on Whitehouse.gov/sotu. We will also live stream that broadcast through the White House Live App on Facebook, YouTube and our new Google+ page.
Starting immediately after the speech and continuing through the rest of the week, senior White House officials will hear from you about the state of our union. President Obama is committed to creating a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration using social media and other online resources to engage citizens across America on your highest priorities.
Washington — It was a march and a speech that the world cannot forget. August 28, 1963, an estimated 250,000 people marched to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington where they heard Martin Luther King Jr. give a speech of unsurpassable eloquence. Known ever since from its “I Have a Dream” passages, the speech gave impassioned voice to the demands of the U.S. civil rights movement — equal rights for all citizens, including those who were born black and brown.
The speech particularly, coming near the close of the then, largest demonstration in U.S. history, created a new spirit of hope across the land. It was one of those rare moments in history that changed a nation — paving the way for a transformation of American law and life.
New regulations for overseas voting went into effect in 2010. If you want to be able to vote while you are outside the United States, you should send a completed Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) to your local election officials every year. It’s easy to do – just go to www.FVAP.gov, the official U.S. Government website for overseas absentee voting information, to start the process.
We strongly recommend you get in the habit of submitting a new FPCA every January to ensure you receive ballots for all the elections in which you are eligible to vote during the calendar year. In addition to the November general elections held every other year, you may be eligible to vote in federal or state primary elections, special elections, emergency elections, and runoff elections.
LOOKING FORWARD TO THE 2012 PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY ELECTIONS: The first presidential primary elections take place in January 2012. Plan to submit a new Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) as early as possible in 2012 so your local election officials have time to send you an absentee ballot, and you have time to vote and return it.
Enrollment allows you to record information about your upcoming trip abroad that the Department of State can use to assist you in case of an emergency. 