Absentee Voting Information for Americans Abroad

2008 is a general and presidential election year in the United States.  Overseas citizens are eligible to participate in presidential and state primary elections, run-off elections and special elections that occur throughout the year, as well as the general elections in November 2008.  

You are strongly encouraged to register to vote and request absentee ballots well in advance of the presidential and state primary elections, which began in January 2008, to ensure that you will receive all ballots for which you are eligible.    Please contact American Citizen Services (ACS) at votebeijing@state.gov  if you have any questions, or visit ACS during our regular opening hours.

The following is the basic absentee voting process:

· You complete an application form (see below) and send it to local election officials in the U.S.
                                   
· The local official approves your request, or contacts you for further information

· The local official sends you an absentee ballot

· You vote the ballot and send it back in time to meet your state's deadline

To register to vote and to request an absentee ballot, you may fill out the paper form at ACS, or download the Federal Post Card Application.
You can also obtain this form from overseas American citizens groups or from the nearest U.S. embassy/consulate.  Fill it out and send it in, following the guidelines for your state.  For your convenience there is a postage-paid envelope template.  Use it when sending election materials back to the U.S. via APO/FPO or by way of the embassy/consulate diplomatic pouch.  You may also put your application in a regular envelop and use international mail service.

Important Information About Voting Abroad – 2008 Elections

The official U.S. Government website for overseas absentee voting assistance is the Federal Voting Assistance Program website at www.fvap.gov.  It has a wealth of information about absentee voting, including the downloadable absentee ballot applications and write-in ballots, state-specific instructions for completing the form, links to state and local officials, and a downloadable emergency ballot.  This site is continually updated and has the most current information regarding deadlines and voting requirements for your state.

What about my state’s requirements?

Each state establishes voting procedures, and so requirements across the country vary.  It is important to be aware of your state’s deadlines for registration.  Specific information about your state's procedures is available at state's deadlines to register and vote, as well as their voting procedures is available at here. 

There may be last minute changes to your state's voting calendar, procedures or deadlines.  When these occur, the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) will issue a News Release.  To add your name to the distribution list for News Releases, send an e-mail to vote@fvap.ncr.gov.  These notices are also available on the Embassy website.

A Voting Assistance Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China, is available to answer questions about absentee voting.  To contact the Voting Assistance Officer, call: 86-10-6532-3431; Fax: 86-10-6532-4153 or send an e-mail to Votebeijing@state.gov.  Look for notices from the Embassy throughout the year relating to the 2008 elections.  

Again, we strongly encourage you to begin this process as soon as possible.  Should questions or problems occur, you would still be able to address them in time to vote in your state’s primary and general elections.    

Who Can Vote from Overseas?

The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act UOCAVA allows certain U.S. citizens vote in absentia, including members of the U.S. Uniformed Services on active duty and their family members while away from their place of voting residence, wherever stationed, within or outside the United States.

The UOCAVA also applies to U.S. citizens residing outside the United States and its territories. These citizens may vote in the state or territory where they last resided immediately prior to departing the United States, even if many years have elapsed and the citizen maintains no residence in the state or territory and the intent to return to that state or territory may not be certain. Most states and territories permit these citizens to vote in elections for Federal offices only, although some states may send a ballot containing local, state and Federal offices.

Note that the UOCAVA provides that voting for Federal offices shall not affect the determination of the voter's place of residence for purpose of any tax imposed under Federal, state or local law. Liability for state income tax, however, may be incurred in some states by voting absentee in state or local elections. To assess the probability of incurring state taxes on income earned outside the United States, you may wish to consult legal counsel for details.

Registering to Vote

In order to register to vote and/or to request an Absentee Ballot, an eligible US citizen must complete a Federal Post Card Application form (FPCA) and submit that to the proper US election official. The FPCA is used to register to vote in federal, state, and local elections, to request an absentee ballot, and to report changes of address. 

The extent and manner of FPCA usage is controlled by state and territory law, and sometimes by local procedure.  For information on your state's requirements, please visit the Federal Voting Application Program (FVAP) website, or contact the American Citizens Services office at Votebeijing@state.gov.

The deadline for submitting the FPCA may vary from state to state.  In order to ensure timely delivery of the election ballot to you, every non-registered citizen is urged to submit the FPCA at least 60 days prior to the election; registered citizens are urged to submit the FPCA at least 45 days before the election.

If your state instructs you to notarize the Federal Post Card Application FPCA form and/or your Voting Ballot form, the American Citizens Services branch can perform this service, free of charge during American Embassy ACS service opening hours. 

How to Keep Election Officials Informed of Your Current Address

FVAP recommends that overseas voters complete and submit the FPCA every year, in January, and whenever you move.

When completing the FPCA indicate your new address and your old address.  Completion instructions for each state can be found here.  In addition to informing the local election official of your current mailing address, submitting the FPCA confirms your registration and acts as a request for absentee ballots for any subsequent elections.

It is important to include a voter registration number or Social Security Number, and any further information that can help the local election official properly identify you.

Submit an address change early enough so that you have enough time to receive, vote your ballot, and return it to the local election official to meet state deadlines.

If you return to your state of legal voting residence, be sure to notify your local election official that you plan on voting at the polls in the next election.

How to Mail Your FPCA and Ballot

The U.S. Embassy is able to return ballots and FPCAs through government mail free of charge.  Feel free to drop off completed ballots with the American Citizen Services (ACS) Unit of the Embassy.  Overseas voters who send Federal Post Card Applications (FPCAs), voted ballots and/or Federal Write-in Absentee Ballots (FWABs) through the Embassy no longer need to affix U.S. postage stamps to envelopes containing forms that they downloaded or received by fax.  By using a downloadable postage-paid return envelope template available on the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP), voters can print out a postage-paid return envelope template directly onto an envelope or onto a piece of paper that can then be taped to an envelope. 

Voters who send their FPCAs or ballots via the host country's mail system need to affix host country postage stamps.

Some states now allow emailing of blank ballots from the local election official to the voter as well as the return of the voted ballot from the voter to the local election official by email.  Please check your state’s requirements.

Emergency ballots

An emergency ballot is available but may only be used if you have registered before the deadline but have not received your ballot.  If the ballot receipt deadline is approaching, and you have not yet received the blank ballot from local officials, you can download an emergency ballot, write in the names of the candidates and the offices for which they are running, and send it back in time to meet your state's ballot receipt deadline.  The emergency ballot (SF-186, Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot, or FWAB) is available on the Internet.  Please check your state’s information on the requirements for submitting the write-in absentee ballot.

Additional Resources:

Be an educated voter.  Non-partisan information about candidates, their voting records, and their positions on issues is widely available and easy to obtain via the Internet.  Use the links appearing on the Federal Voting Assistance Program website or choose any one of several search engines to locate articles and information. 

Check if your state or local Board of Elections has a website.  If so, it is probably fastest to make your absentee ballot request directly to them. You can also find information at:

www.republicansabroad.org,www.democratsabroad.org
www.overseasvotefoundation.org

FVAP Contact Information

If after reviewing the site you still have additional questions, you can contact the FVAP by email at vote@fvap.ncr.gov or by phone Toll Free Telephone and FAX at http://www.fvap.gov/services/tollfree.html.  During non-business hours, citizens may leave a message.  When doing so, please leave sufficient information to allow FVAP staff to get back in touch with you in a timely manner.  Indicate the country you are calling from and leave a complete telephone number including international prefixes and email address (if available).  In order to access the Voting Information Center (VIC), the call must be placed on a touch-tone phone.