Brief Voting for Military and Overseas Voters

Overview of the Population

Voting in person-whether on Election Day or before-remains the most popular way to vote, and the vast majority of Americans have the option to vote at a polling place.

In-person voting, however, is not available to Americans who live outside the United States. U.S. citizens living and working overseas, including military members, must use absentee voting to exercise their right to vote.

Population, Registration and Turnout by State

According to the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP), as of 2022 about 4.4 million Americans live or work overseas. Some 2.8 million of these Americans are eligible to participate in U.S. elections, but overseas voters usually have a turnout rate much lower than domestic voters. Data from the 2022 general election shows that only about 3.4% of these voters returned ballots, as opposed to 62.5% of those stateside.

A variety of factors can make the overseas voting process challenging, including the length of time it takes for absentee ballots to transit both to and from states, logistical obstacles in receiving and sending ballots, and the planning and effort involved with voting abroad.

Federal Requirements

Congress has passed legislation twice in the last 40 years to make it easier for overseas citizens to vote. In 1986, Congress enacted the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), and in 2009, the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE) amended federal law to add even more protection for these voters.

Between the two laws, overseas voters, known as UOCAVA voters, can use a universally accepted federal form to register to vote and request an absentee ballot (the Federal Post Card Application, or FPCA) and can use a Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB) as a fail-safe voting method if they do not receive a regular ballot on time. These federal options supplement state-level registration, absentee ballot requests and voting options already available to UOCAVA voters.

Before the MOVE Act, half the states sent out ballots to UOCAVA voters so close to Election Day that voters did not have sufficient time to cast and return their ballots. To address this issue, the MOVE Act required election officials to send ballots to UOCAVA voters at least 45 days in advance of Election Day. It also required that election officials send voting materials to UOCAVA voters electronically if requested. State laws can exceed these minimum requirements, and some do.

FVAP, a program within the Department of Defense, works to ensure military and overseas citizens are aware of their right to vote and have the tools necessary to do so. FVAP has partnerships with all branches of the U.S. military and the State Department to reach voters living and working abroad. FVAP helps train Voting Assistance Officers at military installations and U.S. embassies and consulates all over the world to assist UOCAVA citizens with the voting process.

State Policies that Impact Military and Overseas Voters

• Voting Residence. A voting residence is the U.S. address where a UOCAVA voter was last domiciled and continues to claim residency for voting purposes. A voter may only have one voting residence at a time. Military members move frequently, and some may choose to change their registration each time they move to a new service location, while others may choose to maintain their registration in their "home" state. Some voters who are U.S. citizens born abroad or who have lived abroad for a long time may have trouble identifying their voting residence, but typically use the address where they lived immediately prior to leaving the U.S. Some states permit voters who have never resided in that state to vote there, although these voters may be restricted to voting only in federal races. FVAP keeps a list of state-by-state details. There is also variation in states regarding the impact when a voter indicates they do not intend to return to that state and that residence, and what races they are eligible to vote on.
• Requesting the ballot. Some states have created special registration and ballot request options for UOCAVA voters. These options supplement the federally mandated FPCA requirement. The FPCA serves as both a voter registration application and absentee ballot request. Some states treat voters who register using the FPCA as "temporarily registered" to vote, and others add them to the voter registration list in the same way as any other regularly registering voter. FVAP recommends military and overseas voters submit the FPCA every calendar year, or immediately after a move, to ensure they are on local election officials' lists of UOCAVA voters for that year.
• Timelines to Return Ballots. Election officials must send UOCAVA ballots out at least 45 days before an election, but even so, reliance on foreign, diplomatic, or military mail systems means some voters do not receive the ballot in time to be able to send it back before the ballot return deadline. Some states require ballots to be returned the day before or by Election Day, and UOCAVA voters may be more likely to miss deadlines. To address this issue, some states have created exceptions for UOCAVA voters, allowing a grace period after the election to accept ballots from UOCAVA voters that were postmarked by Election Day. Election officials must also accept the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot, which is intended as a "fail safe" ballot that UOCAVA voters can send when they did not receive their regular absentee ballot in time.
• Short Timelines Between a Primary and Runoff Election. Due to international mail delays, if a primary and runoff election are close together, there may not be enough time for a UOCAVA voter to vote separately in both elections. To address this issue, some states that use runoff elections have implemented instant runoff voting for UOCAVA voters, allowing them to rank the candidates in order of preference. If a runoff occurs, UOCAVA voters will not need to cast a second ballot; instead, the rankings will show how votes should be counted in the runoff.
• Electronic Ballot Return. Electronic ballot return methods offer an alternative to relying on the postal service, but those are not available in all states and come with security concerns. Thirty-one states allow some electronic method for UOCAVA voters to return their voted ballots, either by email, fax or through a web portal. All rely on internet transmission in one way or another. While these options may increase UOCAVA turnout, policymakers must balance access and security. End-to-end verifiable options are now coming to market and may provide the best of both worlds.
• Ballot Duplication. Ballots returned using electronic methods or the FWAB may not be formatted in a way that can be read by tabulation machines. Many states, but not all, duplicate UOCAVA ballots onto standard ballot stock so they can be quickly and accurately tabulated by machine rather than by hand. Duplicated ballots are generally marked and logged, ensuring the link between the original ballot and the duplicate can be maintained for audit purposes. These ballots are also included in ballot reconciliation processes.
• Ballot Curing and Tracking. UOCAVA voters rely on absentee ballots to cast a vote. In many states, if the paperwork accompanying an absentee ballot has an issue, e.g. a missing signature or date, domestic voters can "cure" their ballot so it can be counted. This option, however, is more difficult for UOCAVA voters. They are typically unable to go into an office in person to cure the ballot, and so need to rely on other options, such as curing by text, phone call or sending additional information in the mail or by fax. Some states have ballot tracking systems where voters can verify online or via text message or email when their ballot has been sent, received or counted. The U.S. Postal Service also provides tracking options. And even though phone calls may be difficult from abroad, voters can always call their local election office to get the statute of their ballot.
• Access to Information. UOCAVA voters may be less likely to live in areas with reliable internet and access to technology, which complicates finding information about absentee ballot requests, elections, and candidates. FVAP recommends optimizing websites for search engines to minimize the amount of time UOCAVA voters spend tracking down the resources they need to request a ballot and locate other information.

Resources

• EAC Quick Start Guide: Serving UOCAVA Voters
• EAC Fact Sheet: Serving UOCAVA Voters
• Overseas Voting Initiative
• FVAP State of the Overseas Voter and State of the Military Voter