Mail In Nomination Form: Fill & Download for Free

How completely incompetent it all is.Here in the UK, elections take six weeks from start to finish. The government contacts you annually to ask who is living in your house and is eligible to vote, and you fill in a form, either by post or online. Several weeks before an election they send you a polling card which you take along to your local polling station, where they cross you off a list (whether or not you remembered to bring the card, which just speeds things up). You vote by physically making an X on a list of names and then posting the ballot form into a locked box.Polling stations are open from 7am to 10pm - I’ve never in my life had to wait more than 15 minutes to vote, and 3 minutes would be more normal. Unless you live halfway up a mountain (and everyone has the option of voting by post, or nominating a trusted proxy voter to cast their vote for them) there will be a polling station within a mile of your house, and usually within half a mile.Mail-in votes have to be applied for at least two weeks in advance and received by polling day, so they can be counted in a timely fashion. Polling stations stay open till 10pm. Counting starts immediately, we get the first results at about 1am and it's all done and dusted by about 9am next day. I think only once in my life has there been a recount which dragged on for more than about 12 hours - and that was only for a single seat (in which the margin was about 6 votes out of 30,000).

Edit (August 28 2015) : The MSP activity submission form is now ready to be filled !Submission Deadline is September 17th, 2015. Early bird submissions (before September 5th 2015) will get extra 5% weightage in the final evaluation.Criteria for 2015-2016Complete an MVA Course. The list of eligible courses & instructions can be found hereConduct a session on Azure to your friends & have at least 5 of them signup for the Azure student offer. Detailed criteria hereGet a Recommendation letter from your college. The criteria for this is hereProvide a 1 - min video on why you should be selected as an MSPFill the nomination form, on completing the New MSP Selection activitiesSee Microsoft Student Partner Program for details. Good luck !!!(Previous answer - This was written before the program had begun)We have not yet received any info on the selection process for India (the one for the US is apparently going on). Good that you asked though, I'll update this answer when we get any mail regarding this.The 2014 application cycle for India was from 25.07.14 to 14.09.14 and it's good to keep in mind the activities that were required for selection.Activities for selection during 2014 (from the WayBackMachine) : http://web.archive.org/web/20141030081406/http://www.microsoftstudentpartners.com/Home/Apply?country=IN

The President’s recent escalation in verbal attacks on the United States Postal Service (USPS) are only the latest salvo in a long war against one of the oldest arms of government.In 2017, President Trump launched his first twitter broadside against the agency, complaining bitterly about the low rates charged to Amazon and other companies for package delivery.[1]As recently as April 24, 2020, Trump called the agency a “joke,” and falsely claimed it lost money on every e-commerce package it delivered.[2]Vilifying the postal service is a surprising political stance, as the Post remains Americans’ favorite government agency. A survey published by the Pew Research Center in April found that 91 percent of Americans held a favorable view of the postal service, higher than any other agency, including the second-place Centers for Disease Control (CDC).[3]Chart: Public Holds Broadly Favorable Views of Many Federal Agencies, Including CDC and HHSThe president is long known to have particular obsessions that dominate his tweeting and press conference discourse: NATO funding, fawning media coverage, “nasty” women that are mean to him, etc. USPS occupies an honored place in Trump’s pantheon of recurring boogeymen.Politically, the president is facing a crisis in his reelection campaign. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to pile on new records in cases and deaths across the country.[4] Polls show him consistently trailing Joe Biden in the majority of battleground states.[5]As a masterful practitioner of culture war scapegoating, the president began flailing about for a new villain on which to focus the hatred of his loyal political base.The voting-by-mail system provides a convenient target for a flailing, incompetent president. The plan of attack follows the vintage Trump playbook:Concoct a big lie.Double down on the lie, repeating it enough to sink in with a credulous audience.Use the lie as cover to mask a political takeover of an independent agency.Derive political benefit from the ensuing chaos.Let’s examine this playbook in action, with the USPS as the latest victim.MAIL-IN VOTING WILL LEAD TO MASSIVE FRAUD AND ABUSE. IT WILL ALSO LEAD TO THE END OF OUR GREAT REPUBLICAN PARTY. WE CAN NEVER LET THIS TRAGEDY BEFALL OUR NATION.[6]—President Donald Trump, tweeted on May 28, 2020.We will leave aside the fact that the president himself has voted by mail multiple times, and seems spectacularly unconcerned about the security of his own ballot.[7] Indeed, despite his current loud claims of massive fraud, the president plans to vote in this year’s election by mail as well. (He requested a ballot by mail this week, confirmed by county election officials in Florida).[8]Like most of the president’s lies, this one is easily debunked.The Washington Post, in partnership with the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), analyzed fraud cases “referred to law enforcement agencies in five elections held in Colorado, Oregon and Washington.”[9]Officials identified just 372 possible cases of double voting or voting on behalf of deceased people out of about 14.6 million votes cast by mail in the 2016 and 2018 general elections, or 0.0025 percent.[10]Looking at the data more broadly, we can see that the rate of fraud is miniscule. Over the past 20 years, 250 million votes have been cast by mail nationally.[11] According to a database run by The Heritage Foundation, over the past 20 years, 1,290 instances of voter fraud of all forms have been proven, resulting in at least 1,113 criminal convictions.[12]Amber McReynolds, a former Colorado election official and now the CEO of the National Vote at Home Institute, and Charles Stewart, director of the MIT Election Data and Science Lab,[13]have analyzed election fraud data. They have found that the number of actual fraud cases per state can be counted on one hand.One hundred forty-three cases of fraud using mailed ballots over the course of 20 years comes out to seven to eight cases per year, nationally. It also means that across the 50 states, there has been an average of three cases per state over the 20-year span. That is just one case per state every six or seven years.We are talking about an occurrence that translates to about 0.00006 percent of total votes cast. [14]An additional salient point: when fraud is caught, the most vocal scaremongers of voter fraud - Republicans - can be found among the culprits. One of the few prominent prosecutions of mail ballot fraud last year involved a Republican political operative tampering with absentee votes in North Carolina.[15]This is only one of numerous examples of Republicans caught in blatant in fraud.[16][17][18]Besides stringent punishment for voter fraud (including fines and jail time), mail-in balloting benefits from well-known security practices:Signature matching requirements, checked by both humans and technology.[19]Unique ballots built for each individual local election, with dozens of markers that would need to be successfully faked.[20] This includes the ballot’s size, style, and the weight of the paper used.[21]Voting has grown by 15% since 1996, and is consistently rated highly by the electorate. A recent poll by the Pew Research Center found that 70% of Americans either somewhat or strongly favor having the option to vote by mail.[22]Chart: 23.1% of votes cast by mail in 2018. Why Is Voting By Mail (Suddenly) Controversial? Here's What You Need To KnowVoting by mail also appears to have little partisan impact, according to a study published in April by Stanford’s Institute for Economic Policy Research.In examining voter data in three states with staggered rollouts of vote-by-mail programs — California, Utah and Washington — the researchers found that the introduction of mail-in voting did not have an effect, on average, on the share of voter turnout for either Republicans or Democrats.Researchers also found that expanding vote-by-mail does not appear to increase the vote share for candidates of either political party. Taken together, the researchers say their findings essentially dispel concerns that mail-in voting would cause a major electoral shift toward one party.[23]“They need that money in order to have the Post Office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots. But if they don’t get those two items that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting, because they’re not equipped to have it.”“If we don’t make a deal, that means they don’t get the money, that means they can’t have universal mail-in voting. They just can’t have it. Sort of a crazy thing. Very interesting.”[24]—President Donald Trump during a Fox Business interview, August 13, 2020.Before Trump ensconced his tweeting personage in the Oval office, the US Postal Service suffered through long-known budget issues. The insistence by Congress that the post office must pre-fund retiree and health benefits, along with a steep drop in mail flow, have been large contributors to the budget crunch.[25]The agency reported a loss of $9 billion last year alone.[26]Unfunded liabilities have reached over 200% since Trump entered office in 2016:USPS Unfunded Liabilities and Debt as a Percentage of USPS Revenue, Fiscal Years 2007 through 2018Chart: Key Issues: U.S. Postal Service's Financial Viability - High Risk IssueIt is against this backdrop that we must view the current fight over funding.In the now-infamous quote above, Trump is referring to a bill (supported by Democrats in Congress) that offers $25 billion in Covid-19 related emergency funding for USPS.[27] The bill also removes restrictions placed on a previous $10 billion line of credit granted to the agency.[28]With this in mind, we must also consider the new postmaster general, North Carolina businessman Louis DeJoy (recently nominated to the post in May by the USPS board of governors, all of whom are appointed by the president).Dejoy, a holder of “significant investments in companies that compete or do business with the USPS,”[29] still retains his multi-million dollar stake in his previous company, a USPS contractor.[30]Prior to his appointment, DeJoy was a fundraiser for the Republican National Convention and has given about $360,000 to Trump Victory, a super PAC supporting Trump’s reelection, according to federal filings.[31]Dejoy has instituted multiple changes at the agency, including deep cuts in staffing hours and reductions in overtime.[32]One particular change has alarmed rank-and-file USPS workers: the decision to decommission 10% of the agency’s mail-sorting machines.DeJoy, in service changes last month, has drastically reduced overtime and banned extra trips to ensure on-time mail delivery. His wholesale reorganizations ousted several agency veterans in key operational roles.And the USPS is currently decommissioning 10 percent of its costly and bulky mail-sorting machines, which workers say could hinder processing of election mail, according to a grievance filed by the American Postal Workers Union and obtained by The Washington Post.Those 671 machines, scattered across the country but concentrated in high-population areas, have the capacity to sort 21.4 million pieces of paper mail per hour.[33]Map: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/usps-states-delayed-mail-in-ballots/2020/08/14/64bf3c3c-dcc7-11ea-8051-d5f887d73381_story.htmlThough overall mail volume is down, the pandemic has fueled a surge in package deliveries.[34] Coupled with already existing mail delays, could wreak havoc in the postal service as the agency is swamped in ballots for the November election.Dejoy and agency leaders have called the machine reductions “a matter of ‘routinely’ moving equipment to accommodate the mix of packages and letters in the mail stream,” which will result in greater efficiency gains.[35]Despite this claim, service delays have stuck Dejoy with the nickname of “Louie Delay.”[36]What is the result of all this chaos?The post office has notified 46 states (and D.C.) that voters could potentially be disenfranchised, due to slow-arriving ballots not delivered in time to be counted. (It is important to note that these warning letters to the states were planned before the appointment of Dejoy.)[37]Multiple states are planning extensions (some as the result of lawsuits) along with other measures to ensure ballots will be counted in the upcoming election.[38][39]With his alarm bells for mail ballot fraud, President Trump clearly believes that a reduction in voting by mail will help him win the election.[40]Adding to the upheaval, social media reports of the removal of mailboxes (reported across the country on 8/14), have also captured media attention.[41]Representatives for USPS have insisted that this is routine, and are moving mailboxes to higher-traffic areas.[42]NBC Montana reporter Maritsa Georgiou contacted the agency after 68 mailboxes were removed across the state.[43]She published the response from USPS spokesperson Kim Frum.Image: (Please note the Comic Sans font signature from the Sr. Public Relations Representative.) https://nbcmontana.com/news/local/dozens-of-montana-usps-drop-boxes-removedIn response to the uproar, USPS has promised not to remove any more mailboxes until after the election.[44]What can you do to ensure your mailed ballot arrives in time to be counted?I support the idea proposed by CNN columnist David Andelman. He is calling for all Americans to put a 55-cent stamp on their return envelope, even if it is pre-printed with bulk postage by their local election board.Most election mail carries the third-class or bulk rate of 20 cents, which can take as long as 10 days to reach its destination. First-class mail takes two to five days maximum. Until now, the postal service has treated election mail, including voter registration materials, voter information, ballot requests and the ballots themselves as first-class, no matter how much or how little postage they carry.According to the New York Times, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said DeJoy had "informed some states that they may need to pay a first-class rate to deliver ballots rather than the normal rate — nearly tripling the cost." According to the newspaper, the postal service said DeJoy's comments were merely a suggestion for local election officials seeking to curb costs, not an on official mandate.But there's a way to utterly frustrate DeJoy's suggestion.[45]The use of a 55-cent stamp would automatically override the lesser postage, forcing it to be moved to first class.[46] This would allow the ballot to hopefully arrive in time to be counted in the November election.Ultimately, if you are worried about your mail-in ballot, please ask for one as early as possible, and send in your vote as soon as your state’s law allows.Vote early, and vote safely.“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”—Quote chiseled above the entrance to the New York City Post office on 8th Avenue. Excerpted from “The Persian Wars” by Herodotus.[47]Footnotes[1] Trump, Amazon and the Postal Service: The story behind the tweet[2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/04/27/trumps-claim-postal-service-loses-money-every-e-commerce-package-it-delivers/[3] Public Holds Broadly Favorable Views of Many Federal Agencies, Including CDC and HHS[4] Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the U.S.[5] Biden leads Trump in 5 of 6 battleground states: poll[6] Donald J. Trump on Twitter[7] Has President Trump Ever Voted by Mail?[8] After criticizing voting by mail, Trump, first lady request mail-in ballots [9] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/minuscule-number-of-potentially-fraudulent-ballots-in-states-with-universal-mail-voting-undercuts-trump-claims-about-election-risks/2020/06/08/1e78aa26-a5c5-11ea-bb20-ebf0921f3bbd_story.html[10] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/minuscule-number-of-potentially-fraudulent-ballots-in-states-with-universal-mail-voting-undercuts-trump-claims-about-election-risks/2020/06/08/1e78aa26-a5c5-11ea-bb20-ebf0921f3bbd_story.html[11] Let's put the vote-by-mail 'fraud' myth to rest[12] Voter Fraud Map: Election Fraud Database | The Heritage Foundation[13] Why Is Voting By Mail (Suddenly) Controversial? Here's What You Need To Know[14] Let's put the vote-by-mail 'fraud' myth to rest[15] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/north-carolina-political-operative-indicted-in-election-fraud-case-that-upended-congressional-race/2019/02/27/b0d5f004-3aaf-11e9-aaae-69364b2ed137_story.html[16] Two Republicans charged in Ohio election fraud scheme — and they won anyway[17] West Virginia mail carrier guilty of election fraud after altering ballot requests to Republican[18] Kansas Republican Rep. Steve Watkins charged with voter fraud [19] Let's put the vote-by-mail 'fraud' myth to rest[20] Why Is Voting By Mail (Suddenly) Controversial? Here's What You Need To Know[21] FACT CHECK: Trump Spreads Unfounded Claims About Voting By Mail[22] Two-Thirds of Americans Expect Presidential Election Will Be Disrupted by COVID-19[23] New research on voting by mail shows neutral partisan effects[24] Trump says he is refusing additional post office funding as part of his fight against mail-in voting[25] https://about.usps.com/news/delivers-facts/usps-delivers-the-facts.pdf[26] What's going on with the post office? Here's what we know[27] Collins, Feinstein Introduce Bill to Provide Up to $25 Billion in Emergency Financial Relief for U.S. Postal Service[28] https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/07/29/postal-service-treasury-loan/[29] Financial disclosures reveal postmaster general's business entanglements and likely conflicts of interest, experts say[30] Financial disclosures reveal postmaster general's business entanglements and likely conflicts of interest, experts say[31] What's going on with the post office? Here's what we know[32] In new letter, USPS chief acknowledges 'unintended consequences' of recent policy changes[33] https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/usps-states-delayed-mail-in-ballots/2020/08/14/64bf3c3c-dcc7-11ea-8051-d5f887d73381_story.html[34] U.S. Postal Service Reports Third Quarter Fiscal 2020 Results[35] https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/usps-states-delayed-mail-in-ballots/2020/08/14/64bf3c3c-dcc7-11ea-8051-d5f887d73381_story.html[36] Trump Is Hobbling the Mail the Old-Fashioned Way[37] https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/usps-states-delayed-mail-in-ballots/2020/08/14/64bf3c3c-dcc7-11ea-8051-d5f887d73381_story.html[38] https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/court-absentee-ballots-that-come-after-election-wont-count/2020/07/15/a1068eec-c6ca-11ea-a825-8722004e4150_story.html[39] https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/usps-states-delayed-mail-in-ballots/2020/08/14/64bf3c3c-dcc7-11ea-8051-d5f887d73381_story.html[40] Trump vows to block new Postal Service funding to undercut voting by mail[41] https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/08/14/people-are-freaking-out-about-mailbox-removals-postal-service-says-its-routine/[42] Tester demands answers from postmaster general on reports of mailbox removals[43] Dozens of Montana USPS drop boxes to be removed[44] https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/08/14/people-are-freaking-out-about-mailbox-removals-postal-service-says-its-routine/[45] Opinion: It'll cost you 55 cents to protect your vote this November[46] Opinion: It'll cost you 55 cents to protect your vote this November[47] https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/mission-motto.pdf