FAQ: Top Questions on Overseas Voting

One of the most important aspects of overseas and military absentee voting is that the process is defined and protected by a federal law called the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA).

Because it’s a federal law, the requirements, features and benefits of the UOCAVA overseas voting program are fundamentally the same across all states and territories.

In contrast, domestic absentee voting laws are state-level, so each state has the right to define its own rules and requirements for eligibility to vote with an absentee ballot. 

Overseas Absentee Voting is Easier

Yes, we believe we can confidently state that for many voters it is easier to vote by absentee ballot from overseas than domestically. 

Core features of the overseas voting program that enhance its ease of use: 

• Most overseas voting actions can be completed online
   

• The registration and ballot request form (FPCA) is uniform across all states and territories
   

• The registration and ballot request form (FPCA) serves a dual purpose: a single form filed once in an election year will register you as an overseas voter, and request your overseas absentee ballot, simultaneously. For states that permit email ballot request, our process allows you to sign and send the request online through our system.
   

• You can request to receive your blank ballot online or by post (or fax;-)
   

• There is a remedy if your requested ballot does not arrive in time: use the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot which you can access online
   

• No notarization requirements can be imposed
   

Further information:

See the Guide to Overseas Voting

See the FAQ on Top Overseas Voting Questions

See our Overseas Voting Explainer

See all Overseas Voting Tools and Services

There are many beneficial features that are unique to the U.S. overseas voting program:
 

• One Form Across All States

The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) mandates that all states must allow overseas civilians and uniformed services members to register and request an absentee ballot for federal elections, using the same form across all states. The uniformity of the application process creates an ease of understanding not found when voting by absentee ballot from within the United States.

ONLY BY USING THIS SPECIFIC FORM WILL YOU BE PROTECTED BY THE UOCAVA VOTING LAW.
 

• Single Form, Dual Function

A special feature of the official form, historically called the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA), is that it has a dual purpose. The form will serve to simultaneously register you to vote from abroad and request your overseas absentee ballot. The form must be submitted once per calendar year, as well as whenever you change your address. 
 

Complete the Overseas Voter Registration / Absentee Ballot Request Form (FPCA)
 

• Sign, Scan and Email Your Application

Most states, with some exceptions, allow voters to sign, scan and return their Registration and Ballot Request form/FPCA by email to their election office. That can be very convenient, especially as form filing deadlines approach.
 

• Receive Your Blank Ballot Online* or By Post

UOCAVA also mandates that all states must provide your ballot according to your wishes, either online or on paper. Be aware, that online ballots must be printed. If you are in a region of the world where the postal system is reliable, it may be easier for you to receive your ballot, already printed, by postal mail, together with a return envelope.
 

• Overseas Absentee Ballots are Available 45 Days Before the Election

If you plan ahead and send in your Registration and Ballot Request form/FPCA early, you’ll have plenty of time to vote. Overseas absentee ballots begin going out to voters who requested them as of 45 days before the election.
 

• Online* and Postal Ballot Return

Every state allows you to return your voted ballot by overseas postal mail. U.S. Vote Foundation and Overseas Vote recommend postal mail as the most secure and confidential method of ballot return. Mail your ballot from the post office to assure correct postage. Your ballot envelope must have an overseas postmark. (Do not give your overseas ballot to a friend to drop into the US mail system!)

Many states also allow you to return your ballot online*, by fax or email. You can look up your state’s Voter Materials Transmission Options to see all of your options.
 

*Keep in Mind – Overseas Voting is not 100% Online

There is no 100% online, real-time internet voting in any state. If you choose to receive your ballot online, you will be required to print it. All ballots must be completed on paper, even if they are then scanned and returned online. For that reason, if you have a reliable postal system, a paper ballot, already printed, together with a return envelope, may be easier for you.

• Eligible U.S. citizens, 18 or older at the time of the election, who are outside of the United States at the time of an election are qualified to vote in federal elections as overseas absentee voters under the protections of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA)*.
   

• Military voters and their eligible spouses and dependents who are absent from their address of domicile are also considered "UOCAVA" voters. 
   

• Americans born abroad who have never established residency in the U.S. may vote in certain states using their U.S. parent/s' voting residence address. For more information: 
   

  • Visit our Voter Help Desk to read about your eligibility to vote if you were born abroad, and what address you can use when voting from abroad without established US residency.
     

  • Read an Interview with a young US voter who was born abroad and and votes in every election from overseas. 
     

• To obtain an overseas absentee ballot, a voter must send in the official overseas registration and ballot request form by the deadline set by each state. States vary in their filing deadlines. Overseas and military voting deadlines also can differ from domestic deadlines. 
   

• If you are planning to travel, study, live or work abroad and you know the address where you’ll be during the election, you may apply for the overseas absentee ballot prior to leaving the U.S. to make sure you meet the application deadline. 
   

• Receipt of your overseas absentee ballot, voting, and return of your voted ballot must all be executed from outside the U.S. 

  * Find out more about UOCAVA and the voting rights it protects.

As much as you might wish, you cannot "choose" which state you send your ballot back to when you vote from abroad, that is not how the overseas voting program works. The state you vote in is the state you are "most connected" to, and that is considered the last state and county you lived in before you left. That is what determines your "voting residence address". It is the place you actually lived, made a home and intended to stay (until you left!).

A temporary stay or visit in a different state does not constitute living there and will not change your voting residence address. 

More technically stated:

U.S. citizens living outside of the U.S. are only permitted to register and vote in the state and county where they last established residence (domicile) in the U.S. before moving outside of the country. This is your "voting residence address," and it is this address that defines your state and jurisdiction for voting. You cannot use a P.O. Box as your last U.S. address. 

If you are still unsure, please consult our Voter Help Desk for further information on this question and to submit questions about your particular situation: "Which state do I vote in if I no longer maintain a US residence?"

Excellent question! 

This is a very good time to be voting as an overseas or military voter. The process has been reformed and streamlined over the past 15 years and is now one of the most modern voting programs in the United States. 

As an overseas or military voter, you will be able to take advantage of many online services from online registration and ballot request, to online ballot receipt and ballot tracking. In addition, Voter Help Desk services and detailed FAQs are available to answer every question and personally guide you through the process. 

There are three fundamental steps in the process of voting from abroad:

The 3 basic steps can be simplified as follows: 

• Step 1: Register and request your ballot as an overseas or military voter. Your election office does not know you are away from your regular voting home until you tell them. To do that, you will generate and submit your registration / ballot request form to your election office. One form takes care of both actions simultaneously. The correct form is often referred to as the "FPCA", and it is available through our website.
   
• Step 2: Receive your blank ballot and vote. In the ballot request process, you will specify whether you would like to receive your blank ballot online or by post. If you choose online or email, be prepared to print the ballot for marking and return.  
   
• Step 3: Return your voted ballot to your election office. In general, we recommend that you go to the local post office to have your ballot properly postmarked from overseas and weighed for the correct postage. Please -- do not give your ballot to a friend to take back to the US and put into the US mailstream. It requires an overseas postmark!

For further information: 
Please see our “Step-by-Step Guide to Overseas Voting” which is dedicated to explaining the overseas voting process. 

The overseas voting program is defined and protected by a federal law, called the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA)
 

This voting law is applicable to all states and territories. If you use the federal official form, historically called the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA), to register and request your overseas or military absentee ballot, you will benefit from UOCAVA voting rights, along with all of the features and benefits inherent in the program. (Please see“What makes the U.S. overseas voting program so special?” for a list these features.)
 

The overseas Voter Registration/Ballot Request form (FPCA) is available on the U.S. Vote Foundation website. 
UOCAVA makes it clear that election officials cannot discriminate as to the eligibility of overseas citizens, and provides protection from certain indiscriminate demands that might prevent voters from casting a ballot:

Size of Ballot Paper or Envelope 

• Your overseas voting documents must be legible, but the size and format of the paper onto which your overseas voting documents are printed, or the envelopes in which they are sent, cannot be used as a reason to disqualify your application. 
   
• Paper and envelope sizes in countries outside of the U.S. are not necessarily the same as those in the U.S. The UOCAVA law makes it clear that an application sent on a different size of paper, or in a different type of envelope, cannot be denied based on those features. 

Never “Too Early” to Send in Your Form

• While U.S. citizens abroad and uniformed services members who are absent from their domicile are required to send in a Voter Registration/Ballot Request form each calendar year that they want to vote, there is no specific time within the calendar year to send in your Overseas Registration/Ballot Request Form (FPCA).
   
• We only encourage you to send it in as early as possible and avoid any delay. While domestic absentee voters may have their forms rejected based on “too early” arrival, the overseas voting law, UOCAVA, makes it clear that your form cannot be rejected for being received by your election office too early—only if it is received too late!
   

Additional “Protections” 

• Rather than calling them “protections,” we tend to refer to the special aspects inherent in the overseas and military voting process as “features and benefits” of the program. 
   
• These specific features and benefits are available to all eligible overseas and military voters who file the Overseas Registration/Ballot Request Form (FPCA) to register to vote and request their ballot.
   
• Please see “What Makes the U.S. Overseas Voting Program So Special?” for the full list of program features.

Unfortunately, misconceptions about voting and taxes keep many overseas citizens from casting their ballots. 
 

• Here is our best advice: If you are living abroad indefinitely and do not own any property in the U.S., vote for federal-level offices only to avoid any tax status implications. 
   
• We cannot offer the same assurances when it comes to the tax implications of voting from abroad for offices at the state and local levels. 
   
• The overseas absentee voting program (UOCAVA) is a federal program that allows you to vote for federal offices. This includes President and Vice President of the United States, your U.S. House of Representatives Congresspersons, and your U.S. Senator. UOCAVA does not technically include voting for any state or local offices. Your state may send you a ballot that includes federal, state and local races, but that is because the state has chosen to do so. You are not obligated to vote for all races listed on the ballot. If in doubt, you can vote only for the federal offices.
   
• We will risk repeating: If you are overseas with no plans to return and do not own any property in the U.S., vote for federal offices only to avoid any tax status implications. Don’t let the fear of taxes stop you from casting your ballot!

• We were close to eliminating all such requirements with the passage of the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act of 2009. That is when notarization was indeed abolished as a requirement that could be imposed by any state on an overseas or military voter.
   

• While notarization is removed as a requirement, there may still be a witness requirement imposed by the states.
   

• Fortunately, it is just a few holdout states—namely, Alabama, Virginia and Wisconsin—that still require a United States citizen witness to sign the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot (FWAB). This is a simple process, which does not require translation or legal fees. States that request witnesses on the FWAB are: 
   

  • Alabama (2 witnesses)

  • Alaska (1 witness)

  • Wisconsin (1 witness) documents.
     

• The instructions will come with your ballot - and it's no big deal. 
   

• Don't let this stop you from requesting your ballot! 

• No, ballot notarization is not a requirement in any state or territory.
   

• In 2009, when the fundamental law, the Uniformed and Overseas Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), which specifies the process for overseas voting was amended by the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE), it was mandated that states cannot require overseas voters and military voters to notarize their voting documents. 
   

• The notarization process abroad is vastly more complex and expensive compared to the process in the U.S. The amendment removed a major burden that many voters faced. 
   

• Simply stated: the law that governs voting for overseas citizens and military members stipulates that notarization requirements are not allowed. 
   

• What you may encounter in a few states if you use the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot (FWAB) is a requirement to have"witnessed" by another U.S. citizen. That is a much simpler process, which does not require translation or legal fees. States that request witnesses on the FWAB are: 
   

  • Alabama (2 witnesses)

  • Alaska (1 witness)

  • Wisconsin (1 witness)

     

Believe it or not, it matters a lot which form you use to register and apply for your overseas absentee ballot.
 

• The form, historically called the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA), which you can access on the U.S. Vote Foundation website, entitles you to specific protections and special benefits as an overseas voter. 
   
• U.S. Vote Foundation and Overseas Vote call it the Overseas Voter Registration and Ballot Request form. This single form functions simultaneously as your overseas or military voter registration form and absentee ballot request. You should complete and file this form every election year in which you want to vote.
   
• In other words, only by using this form will you be entitled to federal program features like a choice on how you receive your blank, including the ability to receive it ballot online, and others. To learn more: please see “What Makes the U.S. Overseas Voting Program So Special?” for the full list of the program features.
   
• Active duty uniformed service members stationed outside their voting jurisdiction during an election, as well as their accompanying spouse and voting-age family members, are also entitled to use the Overseas Voter Registration and Ballot Request form.
   
• The Overseas Voter Registration and Ballot Request form, or FPCA, is a federal form that entitles you to vote absentee for federal offices, including U.S. President, U.S. Vice President, U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. 

• You can submit your overseas Registration/Ballot Request form (FPCA) at any time during the calendar year of the election. In other words, you can apply on or after January 1, 2024 to vote in the 2024 general election or any primary, special, or runoff election scheduled for 2024.
   
• The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) specifically supersedes and overrides any “not earlier than” state law regarding when a citizen abroad or active-duty service member can apply for their absentee ballot. The pertinent UOCAVA section is as follows:
   
  • A State may not refuse to accept or process, with respect to any election for Federal office, any otherwise valid voter registration application or absentee ballot application (including the postcard form prescribed under section 101 [52 U.S.C. § 20301]) submitted by an absent uniformed services voter during a year on the grounds that the voter submitted the application before the first date on which the State otherwise accepts or processes such applications submitted by absentee voters who are not members of the uniformed services. 
     
  • Under the “Supremacy Clause” of the United States Constitution,  a Federal statute like UOCAVA overrides conflicting State statutes and constitutions. 

• Only active-duty members of one of the U.S. uniformed services who are stationed away from their home voting district at the time of the election can use the UOCAVA voting program. 
   

• The uniformed services are the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Force and Coast Guard, as well as the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps. 
   

• Members of the U.S. flag Merchant Marine also qualify as absent uniformed services voters, as do spouses and voting-age family members of uniformed service members and Merchant Marine members, if they are accompanying the service member. 
   

• All references to “overseas” voting in this document and throughout this website also include qualified military voters and their family members.

“Voter abroad” and “overseas voter” are both terms that refer to U.S. citizens who vote from outside the United States They are essentially used interchangeably.
 

• It can be argued that a voter who is in Canada or Mexico, countries which border the United States, is not “overseas.” However the federal law written to protect such a voter is titled the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA). Within this law, citizens outside of the U.S.—even if they’re in a country that borders the U.S.—are considered overseas for the purposes of voting.
   
• A “uniformed absentee voter” is an active-duty member of one of the U.S. uniformed services who is serving away from their home voting district during an election. 
   
• The uniformed services are the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Force and Coast Guard, as well as the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps. 
   
• Members of the U.S. flag Merchant Marine also qualify as absent uniformed services voters, as do spouses and voting-age family members of uniformed service members and Merchant Marine members, if they are accompanying the service member.

If you are a US citizen with dual citizenship, yes, you can vote in US elections. You can vote as a dual citizen within the US, domestically, or you can vote as a dual citizen from another country outside of the US.

The key factor here is that you are a US citizen.*

In addition to your US citizenship, you will need to meet the other requirements to vote: 

• That you will 18 years old or older on the day of the election
• That you meet your state's residency requirements 
• That you register to vote in time to meet the deadline for that election
• If you are abroad, you will need to file the proper overseas voter registration/ballot request form

For US citizens born overseas who have not established US residency, please consult our Voter Help Desk FAQ: I'm a US citizen born overseas, can I vote?

For further information, please see "Who qualifies to vote by overseas absentee ballot?"

Another wonderful feature of the overseas voting program is that if for any reason a voter does not receive the ballot they requested in time to vote, it is possible to use an emergency Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot (FWAB). The FWAB is available on the U.S. Vote Foundation website. You can complete the cover page online, then download the ballot with instructions and the return address.
 

Here are some things to keep in mind:
 

Write-in Candidates

• You will need to look up and write in the names of your chosen candidates. You can do that with the Sample Ballot Tool available on the U.S. Vote Foundation website.
   

If Your Ballot Arrives After You Submit the FWAB

• If you send in the FWAB and your absentee ballot arrives afterward, you should vote and return that as well. This is common practice. Your election official knows to count the absentee ballot and disregard your FWAB in the event that they both arrive in time.

Before you Use the FWAB Emergency Ballot

• The FWAB is a very basic substitute for your real ballot and should be your ballot of last resort.
   

• Before jumping to use the FWAB, contact your election office to see if they sent your absentee ballot to you. 
   

• If your election office sent your ballot, but you did not receive it, and if there is still time, ask if they can void the first ballot and send you a replacement ballot. That will always be preferable to the FWAB.

U.S. Vote Foundation and our Overseas Vote initiative are very proud of our Voter Help Desk, which offers a detailed library of Frequently Asked Questions. 
 

When you're away from home, traveling, living, working, or serving your country - you could have any number of situations and circumstances that seem like they complicate your voting situation. You are not alone! 

Our Voter Help Desk is there for you. For the past 2 decades, we have helped thousands of voters every Election Year to see their way to registering to vote and requesting their overseas absentee ballot. We've met every challenge together with every voter that asked for assistance and advice.

Please don't assume they should know something, or that asking a question is too troublesome, or that any reason at all should get in the way of you voting. It's your right to vote from abroad, and you can!
 

Don't let a question stand between you and voting - our Voter Help Desk is here for you. No question is too large or small.
 

• Don’t see your question answered? Click “Ask a Question” to submit a ticket to the Voter Help Desk. 
   

• One of our agents will send you a personalized answer specific to your voting question—usually within 24 hours.
   

• Visit the Voter Help Desk with your question!