US absentee ballot requests surge

Voters could register online anywhere in the world

There has been a surge in the number of US voters overseas requesting absentee ballots for the 2 November presidential election, both main parties say.

A Democrat spokeswoman said the large number of requests for absentee ballots was causing "a lot of confusion" for local officials in the US .

Republicans also said that some states had been late in sending out ballots.

In Cape Town on Tuesday more than 200 US citizens queued to fill in ballots - four times more than had been expected.

"I have seen greater interest in this election than any other in my 20 years in the foreign service," Cape Town consulate spokesman Louis Mazel was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency.

The consulate, along with those in Johannesburg and Pretoria, had been offering a one-day service which allowed voters to fill in and send off their absentee ballots.

'Too successful'

Sharon Manitta, spokeswoman for the Democrats' UK and International Caucus, told BBC News Online that campaigns to register overseas voters had gone extremely well, and US localities were having trouble getting absentee ballots out to voters.

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"We're a victim of our own success, we've registered so many more people than in previous elections," she said.

Every US voter is required to register with election officials prior to voting.

Registration can be done electronically, but overseas citizens can only vote by sending in paper absentee ballots by post.

Military vote

Republicans Abroad spokesman Ryan King agreed that the number of registered overseas voters had "drastically increased" for the current election.

The party's chapters in Europe, for example, had registered three times as many voters as in 2000, Mr King said.

He said that some states had had trouble sending out absentee ballots on time, though most were on schedule.

The BBC's Nick Childs in Washington says registration figures may have been boosted by efforts by the Pentagon to make sure that all its personnel, including those in war zones, can vote.

The number of troops stationed abroad has nearly doubled compared to the last election, largely because of Iraq and Afghanistan - Florida alone has 35,000.

The situation among overseas voters appears similar to that in the US itself, where correspondents say people have had to brave long queues in some areas to register to vote.