American citizens who want to vote in the Nov. 3 presidential election should beat a path to the U. S. Embassy on Novinsky Bulvar Wednesday Oct. 21, before 5 P. M.


Registered voters who requested absentee ballots before Oct. 3 may request a federal write-in absentee ballot from the American Citizens Services office, an employee of that office said Tuesday.


The ballots must be mailed either through the Army Post Office or through the Russian postal service, she said. They may not be carried to the United States by passengers, she said.


APO mail leaves the embassy only on Wednesdays and takes at least one week to reach its destination. "That means that, in order to get the ballots there on time, people should come in on Wednesday", she said.


To obtain a federal ballot, Americans must take an oath swearing that they previously requested absentee ballots. Citizens should bring their passports to be admitted to the embassy.


The official said she has handed out about 100 federal ballots in the last few weeks. Several recipients said they had requested ballots from their election registrars last summer and still had not received them. Federal write-in ballots list candidates for the offices of president, vice president. Senate and the House of Representatives.