Special Consular Services
Voting Services
Absentee Voting for United States Citizens
The Federal government has assisted certain voters since 1942. The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Voting Act (UOCAVA) requires that the States and territories allow certain groups of citizens to register and vote absentee in elections for Federal offices. In addition, many states and territories have developed their own laws allowing citizens covered by the UOCAVA to register and vote absentee in state and local elections as well. General elections include primaries, general and special elections for the President, Vice President, U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives to Congress. U.S. citizens covered by the UOCAVA include:
- Members of the U.S. Uniformed Services (on active duty) and merchant marine.
- Their family members.
- U.S. citizens residing outside the U.S.
Requirements for Voting, Establishing Voting Residence and Registration
Every state and territory prescribes two voter requirements:
- A voter must be a citizen of the United States on the date of the election in which he or she wishes to vote; and,
- A voter must be at least 18 years old on election day in order to vote. Some states permit a 17-year-old to vote in primary elections if he or she will be 18 by the date of the general election.
In order to vote in either federal or state elections in the United States, most states require citizens residing abroad to register in the state of his or her "voting residence." A voting residence is the legal residence or domicile in which the voter could vote if present in the state. Military and Merchant Marine members, their spouses and dependents, may register to vote in the domicile (state) that the member claims as his or her residence. Civilian U.S. government employees overseas, their spouses and dependents, will generally register in the state they claim as their legal residence. In accordance with the UOCAVA, overseas citizens (not affiliated to the US government) must vote in their last state of residence immediately prior to departure from the United States. This applies even if many years have elapsed and the voter maintains no abode nor has any intention of returning to that state.
How to Vote?
Applying for the ballot: The Embassy does not supply voting ballots. You cannot vote at the Embassy. However, the Embassy does supply the form necessary to request the absentee ballot from your last state of residence. The form is known as the FPCA - Federal Post Card Application.
You may obtain the Federal Post Card Application online at http://www.fvap.gov for you state of residence. If you live permanently overseas, for voting purposes your state of residence is the state where you last lived immediately before leaving the United States.
Note: In some states, one FPCA will get you both the Primary and the General Election ballots. In others, you need to send a separate FPCA prior to each election.
What do I do with the FPCA? Fill out the FPCA using the instructions attached to the postcard. If you have difficulty in reading or understanding any English language materials, relating to voting or voter registration, please ask the consular staff for assistance. If you have questions about the instructions or if you need to know the address of the official to whom to address the postcard (e.g. the County Clerk, Board of Elections, Registrar of Voters, etc.) consult the Voting Assistance Guide extract for your state.
The Voting Assistance Guide contains up-to-date requirements and information for voting in each state. You will be given the state information applicable in your case. Note the date for applying. Once you determine the county you vote in, the Guide can give you the address and zip code of the county official to which you must address your FPCA. Note many states will accept the FPCA as a multipurpose form, i.e. it can be used as an application for registration and/or an absentee ballot. In the event that your voting state does not accept the FPCA for all purposes, the state will mail you a registration form, which must be completed. In some cases the form must be notarized before an American consular officer or notary public abroad. In those states, only after the registration form is fully executed and mailed will you receive an absentee ballot.
Notarization: If the state requires that you take an oath to the contents of the FPCA, bring it to the Embassy’s American Citizen Services Section for notarization at 7:30 a.m. any Saturday through Tuesday along with your passport. All notarization services on voting materials are performed free of charge.
Deadline for submitting the FPCA: In about half the states and territories, the deadline for submitting the FPCA is the same for all those entitled to use it, regardless of whether or not the citizen is on the voter registration rolls for that state or territory. In the remainder of the states and territories there will be two deadlines: one for the registered voter and one for the nonregistered voter. In this latter category of states, the nonregistered voter usually must submit the FPCA to the local election official by the state's or territory's deadline for voter registration (usually 30 days prior to the election). The registered voter may have a later deadline. The citizen should refer to his or her state Voting Assistance Guide extract for further details. However, every registered citizen is strongly urged to submit the FPCA so that it is receive by the election official at least 45 days prior to the election. Unregistered citizens are urged to submit the FPCA so that it arrives at least 60 days prior to the election.
Mailing: The citizen should mail the FPCA in sufficient time to comply with all state or territory deadlines. The citizen should be certain that he/she allows enough time to receive, vote, and return an absentee ballot in time for it to be counted.
An FPCA may be mailed, free of postage, through the Embassy if the envelope indicates that postage has been pre-paid. If you mail it through the Yemeni postage system, you must place the appropriate airmail stamp on it. Please check the extract from the Voting Assistance Guide for your states as many of the states now allow you to fax your ballot.
Will I incur tax liability by registering to vote? Federal law provides that no tax liability may be imposed based on exercising your right to vote in Federal elections, e.g., the President, Vice President, U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives to Congress. If you are a civilian citizen residing outside the U.S. and wish to avoid classifying yourself as a state resident for tax purposes, you should check "Other U.S. citizen residing outside U.S." on the FPCA. You will normally receive a Federal ballot only. If the state sends you a full ballot because it does not print a separate Federal ballot, you may vote the full ballot without incurring a tax liability.
Note, however, that some applications for ballots or the ballots themselves will ask you whether you want to vote for state officials up for election, e.g. candidates for governor, candidates for the state legislatures. The law only covers federal officials. If you decide to vote for state officials, some states may find that your actions in registering to vote for state officials or actually voting for state officials will allow the particular state to consider voting as a factor in determining tax domicile. Before voting for state officials consult the Voting Assistance Guide that lists the states operating in this manner. To reiterate, if you register to vote and vote only for federal officials the law precludes the federal government and state or local governments from using voting in determining your tax domicile.
Federal write-in absentee ballot: Overseas voters may be eligible to use the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot (FWAB) to vote for federal offices (President/Vice President, Senator, and Representative). The FWAB may be used only for general elections and is a backup for voters who expect to be able to use the regular absentee ballot from their state or territory but who did not receive that ballot in time to vote and return it. The FWAB must be received by the local election official no later than the deadline for receipt of regular absentee ballots under state law. The FWAB is to be used to assist those voters who would be disenfranchised through no fault of their own, and is not designed as a replacement for the regular state ballot. It is valid only when the state ballot has been requested.
Denial of right to vote: Any person who believes that he or she has been wrongfully denied the right to vote should follow the procedures outlined in the Voting Assistance Guide. Alternatively, contact the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. 20520.
Important Information:
Complete the FPCA and return it to the address shown in the State instruction leaflet. We recommend that you do not mail it to the Embassy - this may delay receipt of your ballot.
If mailed through the Yemeni postal system, put an airmail stamp on the envelope.
Apply in good time - at least 45 days before the election. There are no facilities to vote at the Embassy.
The Federal Voting Assistance Program's (FVAP) website at http://www.fvap.gov provides related information and resources for UOCAVA citizens. The website also provides most of the FVAP's informational materials in electronic format including Voting Assistance Guide and the periodic newsletter published by the FVAP which contains timely information on elections.