US Embassy In Doha Facilitates The Voting Process For American Citizens

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Fazeena Saleem | The Peninsula

Doha, Qatar: American citizens in Qatar can submit their ballot or absentee ballot request for the upcoming elections at the US embassy in Doha, on a walk-in basis.

Voting materials can be dropped off at the embassy between Mondays and Thursdays from 10am to 11.30am without an appointment, American Citizens Services Chief at the US embassy in Doha, Phillip Starkweather told The Peninsula.

He said that the embassy facilitates voting and makes it as easy as possible for the US citizens in Qatar.

“At the US State Department, one of our primary aims abroad is to support US citizens. One way we do that is to facilitate voting. We do that in a nonpartisan way. We don't advocate for one side or the other, but we just want to make voting as easy as possible,” he said.

Many US elections for the House of Representatives and Senate have been decided by a margin smaller than the number of ballots cast by absentee voters. In the US, all states are required to count every absentee ballot that is valid and reaches local election officials by the absentee ballot receipt deadline.

Starkweather explained that American citizens can visit the Federal Voting Assistance Program website for information about voting overseas and they can register to request an absentee ballot within a few minutes. Then they can drop off the voting material with US postage at the embassy. A postage-paid return envelope can be also printed from the Federal Voting Assistance Program website.

“Each jurisdiction in the United States has its own procedures and this website makes it easy for US voters abroad to find the process for their state and to carry that out and then on our end, we can accept that ballot,” he said.

Starkweather shared these details in an interview with The Peninsula about the Town Hall event organised by the Consular Services and American Citizens Services sections of the US Embassy Doha together with the AmCham Qatar, at the Georgetown University in Qatar, recently.

Held with the aim of fostering closer relations and addressing vital community concerns, the gathering provided American expatriates with a platform to engage directly with embassy officials. Highlighting essential services offered by the embassy and guidance on participating in upcoming elections, the event underscored the embassy's commitment to supporting its citizens abroad. Following introductory remarks by US Ambassador to Qatar H E Timmy Davis, chiefs of each section at the US embassy and the Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Qatar provided insights into their mission and objectives to serve US citizens and US businesses abroad.

“We had a Q&A section where we opened the floor and American citizen attendees could ask questions about the presentations, or they could ask other questions or raise any concerns.

Accessibility to government officials is something we believe in, and we want to be there to share information and hear from the community. So that was a valuable part of the programme,” said Starkweather.

He emphasized that one of the aims of the event was to engage with the US citizen community and communicate everything done by the embassy.

“We are working to support US businesses. We are working to support US educational institutions. We have a very strong relationship with the Qatari government and we have robust cooperation and we wanted to share that work with the public and communicate that,” he said adding that the event also shed light on voting for the upcoming elections as it is a timely issue.

“So, we wanted to reach people now so they can prepare to vote in the fall. And then also we talked about other American Citizen Services and emergency services,” he said.

The embassy has a new website tinyurl/Doha ACS to communicate with US citizens for information, enquiries and appointments. In an emergency, US citizens in Qatar can reach the consular section after-hours at 974-4496-6000.

Xiomara Henriquez, Executive Director of American Chamber of Commerce in Qatar, Co-Organizer of Town Hall said,“The feedback from the event was positive. After the presentations and audience Q&A, attendees expressed they would welcome having more of these collaborative events.

“They found it informative and enlightening as many of them were unaware of initiatives being coordinated through AmCham and the US Embassy. Based on feedback, two highlights of the evening were enjoying flavours of home through Pure Eats's catering and seeing the model of the new US Embassy tentatively scheduled to open in 2026,” said Henriquez.

Andrea Cecetka, US Embassy Citizen Liaison Volunteer and Town Hall participant said that the event was insightful. She said,“The event was very informative, and I left with a better understanding of how to have my voice heard at home by exercising my right to vote overseas. Normally, American citizens interact with the embassy through scheduled appointments only; it was refreshing to be able to engage in a more interactive environment with embassy personnel.”

Based on the enthusiastic response of US citizens, the embassy hopes to host similar events in the future.

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