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About Absentee Voting

Voting is a constitutional right that American citizens eighteen years and older can freely exercise. The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) covers all active-duty members of the Uniformed Services and their families, members of the merchant marine and their families, and US citizens who reside overseas, and assists them in exercising their right to vote.

Elections are managed individually by all 55 states and territories. This means that there are 55 sets of rules for absentee voting by UOCAVA citizens, but the basic steps are simple:

1. Citizens register to vote and request an absentee ballot by filling out the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA), and mailing it to their local election official in the state in which they are eligible to vote.
   
2. The election official approves/disapproves the FPCA or requests additional information.
   
3. If the FPCA is approved, the election official sends an absentee ballot to the citizen.
   
4. The citizen votes and returns their ballot to their election official by their state’s deadline.
   

To successfully vote absentee, UOCAVA citizens should:

• Allow plenty of time to request, receive, and return their ballot.
  
• Notify their local election official each time their mailing address changes.
  
• Become familiar with their state’s absentee voting laws, procedures, and deadlines to make sure their ballot is properly executed and will be counted.
  

This website provides UOCAVA citizens with the state-specific information they need to register to vote and request and return their ballot, or to complete an emergency back-up write in ballot. If you wish to perform any of these tasks, go to www.fvap.gov and choose the "Get Started" button under the category of UOCAVA citizen that describes you.