Absentee Voting Guidelines for Uniformed Services & Overseas Citizens

If you are listed in our records as a member of the Uniformed Services, overseas citizen or a dependent of one, you will  be notified annually by the Absentee Division of any upcoming elections in which you may be qualified to vote.  In the notification, you will be asked to confirm the information we have on record is correct and to indicate for which elections you would like to receive an absentee ballot.  It is important you keep your records current with the Department to preserve your right to vote. If you are requesting an absentee ballot,  complete the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) or use one of the other methods listed under How To Request An Absentee Ballot. The FPCA request for an absentee ballot shall be effective for all elections through the next two regularly scheduled general elections.   If, as a member of the Uniformed Services, you are stationed outside of the United States or its territories, you may request that your ballot be transmitted to you via fax.

Once you have voted your ballot, carefully follow the instructions supplied with the ballot. If you return your ballot via the mail during a primary and/or general election in which there is a federal office on the ballot, there will be a presumption the date indicated on the back of the envelope was the date the ballot was mailed for the purpose of determining whether or not the ballot was received within the accepted time frame (within 10 days of the election).

If you are stationed outside of the United States or its territories, you may return your voted absentee ballot via fax as outlined in the FVAP Voting Assistance Guide or by faxing it directly to our Absentee Division at 386-626-6635.   However if you choose to fax your ballot, you will be waving  your right to privacy. If you are faxing your ballot back, it must be received in our office before 7:00 p.m. eastern standard time on Election Day to be counted.

 To learn more about these methods go to the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) website.  

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