- 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.
- 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.