I did some more digging on various Florida sites which discuss absentee ballots. It looks like Florida makes a clear distinction between what I'll call "ordinary absentee ballots" and what I'll call "military absentee ballots." Ordinary absentee ballots--students, tourists in Israel or France, bluehaired yentas living in Tel Aviv, etc.--must have their ballots returned by 7 pm on the day of the election. _Military_ absentee ballots get the "postmarked by election day, received within 10 days" treatment. This has not been widely reported, and contradicts the many press interviews with residents of foreign countries who are presumed to possibly be the hinge votes. At least I have not seen such a distinction made, and I've been following this thing for probably 14 hours a day for the past five or six days. Here is language from Bay County's Web site: "Absentee ballots must be returned to the Supervisor of Elections by the voter, either in person or by mail. If the voter personally delivers the ballot, he or she must present his or her own picture identification before the ballot will be accepted. If the voter is unable to mail or personally deliver the ballot, the voter may designate in writing a person to return the ballot. The designated person may NOT return more than two (2) absentee ballots per election, other than his or her own ballot, except that additional ballots may be returned for members of the designee's immediate family (as defined in the section on requesting absentee ballots). The designee must provide a written authorization from the voter as well as present his or her own picture identification. Voted absentee ballots must be received no later than 7 p.m. election day at the office of the Supervisor of Elections. A VOTED BALLOT CANNOT BE ACCEPTED AT A POLLING PLACE. MILITARY INFORMATION Military personnel may apply for voter registration or request absentee ballots with a Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) which may be obtained from the unit voting officer. If the FPCA is not available, phone or send a written request to the Supervisor of Elections Office, 300 E. 4th Street, Room 112, Panama City, FL 32401-3093. Spouses and dependents are considered to be of the same category of absentee voters as military members and generally should follow the same rules. U.S. Embassies and Consulates can assist in completing, witnessing, notarizing and mailing FPCA forms, absentee ballots and other election materials. Federal portions of general election and presidential preference primary ballots voted by persons outside the U.S. are counted if postmarked no later than election day and received within 10 days of the election. Additional military election information is available from: -- ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, ComSec 3DES: 831-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, "Cyphernomicon" | black markets, collapse of governments.