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 to voting from abroad:
- 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 can generate and submit your registration / ballot request form on our website and submit it to your election office. One form takes care of both actions simultaneously. (Note that the form is often referred to as the "FPCA").
- 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 electronically, or by post. If you choose to receive your ballot online, 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 mail. 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.
