Under the 1986 Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (“UOCAVA”), members of the seven uniformed services, members of the U.S. Merchant Marines, eligible family members of the above, U.S. citizens employed by the federal government residing outside the U.S. and all other private U.S. citizens residing outside the U.S. all have the right to cast an absentee ballot in federal elections. Overseas civilian and military voters can register and vote absentee using their last legal address in the U.S. While there are state-specific regulations, the general practice is that most states require the ballot to be either signed or postmarked by date of the election and received within ten-to-fourteen days after the election.
Most states mail their ballots out some 30-45 days prior to an election. Under “UOCAVA,” overseas and military voters can use also use a “back-up” ballot, called the Federal Write-In Absence Ballot (FWAB) to cast their ballot in cases where they have made a timely application for, but have not received, their regular absentee ballot. This ballot can be downloaded, printed, completed and mailed in by the voter. U.S. embassies, consulates and bases abroad are also charged with helping overseas voters and will mail back ballots through U.S. diplomatic and military mail services.
Some states have updated their laws and practices to facilitate voting by overseas voters. They have appointed election officials to help overseas voters, and will now send out ballots by email or fax and no longer require a US post mark on the envelope returning the ballot. However, states differ greatly in the permissible method of transmission of absentee ballots. Most voters living overseas, with the exception of U.S. government personnel, do not have easy access to the U.S. Postal Service and have to use international mail or more likely a courier service to send their ballot to a friend in the U.S., who later mails the ballot through the U.S. Postal Service.
Overseas voters can best contact the supervisor of elections in the county of their last legal domicile in the U.S. for state-specific information on absentee voting regulations.
