Vote from Abroad – Make Your Voice Heard
- 6.9% of eligible Americans living abroad voted in 2016 compared to 71.9% of their Stateside counterparts.
- Data from 2016 shows that there are approximately 3 million voting-age Americans abroad. About 329,000 of them are living here in the UK.
- Now more than ever we need to be sure our voices are heard.
- All Americans abroad must register to vote every calendar year. A good thing to do is submit the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) every January 15th to ensure you receive a ballot for any elections which may occur during that calendar year.
- It’s not too late to register to vote. The Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) suggest that the FPCA is filled out and submitted by August 1st so that there is plenty of time for your local election official (LEO) to process your registration and send out your ballot.
- For the general election in November 2020, your state should send your ballot by the 19th of September.
- Electing to receive your ballot via email will allow you to immediately recognize if you have not received a ballot. If you don’t receive your ballot by September 19th, contact your LEO and find out what the problem is. Any time saved in this process could be the difference between you voting or not which is why receipt of the ballot via email is recommended.
Learn How to Register and Receive a Ballot
For those who like to get things done without needing to understand every tiny detail I will do a succinct outline at the beginning so you don’t have to muddle through the expanded version. Let me first say just how jealous I am. I find it very difficult to make decisions without going over every little step. My mom has tried to teach me to jump in and figure things out on the way, but it feels so unnatural. For everyone like me, carry on reading through this post for extra details about how to register to vote from abroad.
The good news is it’s not an extremely complicated process, there’s no need to be anxious about it, and you’re not too late. The FPCA is reasonably simple, however if this is your first time voting from abroad you may have a couple of questions.
The Succinct Version
- Go to https://www.votefromabroad.org/ . Vote From Abroad (VFA) have gone through and identified all the little quirks that each state has regarding voter registration regulations. You can rest easy knowing they’ve done the hard work and you can just follow their instructions.
- Click the Start button on their home page.
- Complete steps 1-5 to submit your Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) ensuring you request your ballot to be sent by email.
- Contact your local election official (LEO) to confirm your registration has been accepted.
- Await an email containing your ballot. For the 2020 presidential election, if you do not receive it on September 19th, contact your LEO without delay to resolve the issue.
- Follow your ballot’s instructions carefully and submit it. Congratulations! You’ve voted!
The Detailed Version
Register to Vote and Request a Ballot
US citizens overseas are required to register to vote every calendar year. The best way to do this is to fill out the FPCA. The FPCA guarantees that your state will send you ballots at least 45 days before an election. If you use other methods of registering to vote, the state is not required to send you the ballot with as much time to spare. The FPCA can be accessed in these 2 locations:
- Federal Voting Assistance Program
- Vote From Abroad
A little bit of information about these 2 organizations.
Federal Voting Assistance Program
The Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) is a government website which helps service members and overseas citizens vote. I used FVAP to register and vote in 2018, but it felt rather complicated. I had to print and fill it out, sign it and send it in the mail. Easy enough if you have your own printer, but slightly more difficult if you have to use the library printer, especially now with limited access to these public spaces. I also had to do my own checks digging through multiple pages for state specific submission methods, deadlines, and contact information. In the end, I never received a ballot and had to fill out and mail a form called the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB).
Vote From Abroad
Vote From Abroad (VFA) is a non-partisan platform which is run by Democrats Abroad. It helps American Expats, both Democrats and Republicans, find and submit the correct forms for registering to vote and receiving a ballot. VFA ensures that you have the correct forms for your state and gives you easy access to all the contact information for your local election official (LEO). I used VFA this year to register and it was so simple – everything for my state, Indiana, could be done online. Indiana allows electronically uploaded signatures to be placed on the form, so there was no need to print it in order to sign and no paying for it to be sent in the mail. The great thing about it is I didn’t have to go digging for Indiana’s requirements. VFA did all that work for me. If it’s not obvious, I recommend using VFA.
The 5 Steps of VFA’s Registration and Ballot Request
Once you are on VFA’s website, click start to begin the process of filling out your FPCA. VFA have created a 5 step process that’s easy to understand and complete. I used my phone because it has a camera which made it simple to take a photo of my signature and upload it to the form before sending it.
Step 1 Your Information
- Straightforward information about yourself and your current address.
Step 2 Voting Information
- Voting Address
- Choosing Between “My Return is Uncertain” and “I Intend to Return”
- Request email ballot, recommended to prevent delays due to international post
What is my Voting Address?
Your voting address typically is your last address in the States before moving abroad. Even if you don’t own it, even if the residence doesn’t exist anymore, even if you were never registered to vote at that address before moving abroad.
If you never lived in the States you can use the last US address of either of your US citizen parents.
Choosing Between “My Return is Uncertain” and “I Intend to Return”
For many expats this question isn’t very straightforward. We’ve gone away from home to a new land only to discover one day that the new land is now our home. Our definition of home be uncertain. Knowing where we might be in a year or 5 is sometimes impossible. The important thing here is knowing what the implications are when you tick each box.
Option 1 My Return is Uncertain
If you choose this option you will still receive a federal ballot (president and congress). 31 States will also allow you to vote in state and local elections (governor, state legislature, etc.) Indiana is not one of those 31 states. By doing a quick google search, I found this info in Indiana’s 2019 Voter Registration Guidebook. It is just an example of Indiana’s laws. Please check your state’s laws to see how this option could affect you.
Info from Indiana 2019 Voter Registration Guidebook
If a person is an overseas voter who indicates their “return is uncertain” and resides in another country and, but for such residence, would be qualified to vote in the last place in which the person resided in Indiana before leaving the U.S., then this overseas voter is a U.S. citizen who is still entitled to vote by virtue of his or her U.S. citizenship. In Indiana, this type of overseas voter is entitled to a federal only ballot. This individual is considered for election purposes to be a registered voter of the Indiana precinct where the county voter registration office is located, and the county voter registration official should register this individual at office’s address. (IC 3-11-4-8; 3-5-2-24)
NOTE: The FPCA provides a box where an overseas voter may mark the individual is a U.S. citizen who has never lived in the United States. This is the fifth box under item #1 on the FPCA. Individuals marking this box are ineligible to register and vote in Indiana.
Option 2 I Intend to Return
If you choose this option all states will send you ballots for federal, state and local elections. However, you may need to consider the tax implications. Selecting intention to return on its own may not be enough to make you liable to pay state and local taxes. However, maintaining ties to a state could make you liable to pay taxes. That could be intending to return, maintaining a state driver’s license or having a forwarding address at a relative’s home within the state. Each state has different laws regarding this and it would be prudent to look them up.
Our circumstances will differ and other variables could come into play such as filing taxes via FEIE vs tax credits, using the bona fide residence test (rather more subjective) vs the physical presence test (objective and difficult to dispute), or if you’re already required to file state taxes for another reason. If you have concerns or questions about your own personal circumstance, please get in touch with a tax professional – I am nowhere near qualified to give any tax advice. Every year it’s a headache to get through, but I’ve included a couple links to some resources just to introduce you to the issue.
An Excerpt from Publication 54 from the IRS
Effect of voting by absentee ballot.
If you are a U.S. citizen living abroad, you can vote by absentee ballot in any election held in the United States without risking your status as a bona fide resident of a foreign country. However, if you give information to the local election officials about the nature and length of your stay abroad that does not match the information you give for the bona fide residence test, the information given in connection with absentee voting will be considered in determining your status, but won’t necessarily be conclusive.
Voters may choose I Intend to Return if they intend to return to the state in which they are registering to vote. An “intention” is sufficient, you don’t need to have a fixed date of return or firm plans. Registering as Intend to Return should make you eligible to vote in state and local races. However, it may also make you liable for state income taxes (if applicable in your state).
Voters may choose My Return is Uncertain if they do not have a current intention to return to the state in which they are registering to vote. Voters are entitled to receive a ballot for federal offices and may, depending on their state, also receive a ballot for state and local offices.
Step 3 Identification
- There are a few questions here, but nothing too difficult.
- Party affiliation – the FPCA requests your party affiliation in order to send you the correct ballot for primaries, so keep that in mind when choosing.
- Have either your Social security number or state ID available as a form of identity. Each state’s requirements may differ, but VFA will have checked these and will prompt you to fill out what is required.
Step 4 Review Form
- Check it over and edit any incorrect information
Step 5 Sign and Submit
- Sign – Many states will allow you to electronically sign the form and send it in via email. VFA makes this very easy, especially if you are using your phone to submit the form. If your state does not allow this, you will have to print the form, sign it, and date it. If submitting by email (recommended) you will then need to scan it back into the computer. Otherwise, post it to the address of your Local Election Official. VFA immediately gives you the correct address if you choose to submit it by mail.
- Submit via email to prevent delays due to international post.
Contact your Local Election Official
Get in touch with your LEO to confirm they’ve received your application and that you are registered to vote.
Await your Ballot
For the 2020 Presidential Election, every state should send out ballots by September 19th. Make a note in your calendar and if you have not received a ballot by then, call your LEO without delay to resolve the issue.
Vote
Once you’ve received your ballot, follow the instructions carefully. Fill it in and submit your ballot following your state’s guidelines.
Congratulations! You’ve voted!
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