Military personnel may apply for voter registration or request vote-by-mail ballots with a Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) which may be obtained from the Unit Voting Officer or is available online.
If already a registered voter, vote-by-mail ballots may be requested by email, phone, or in writing. All requests must be sent to the Supervisor of Elections’ office. Spouses and dependents are considered to be of the same category of vote-by-mail voter as military members and generally should follow the same rules.
Federal portions of general election and presidential preference primary ballots voted by persons outside the U.S. are counted if postmarked no later than Election Day and received within 10 days of the election. Additional military election information is available from:
THE DIRECTOR
FEDERAL VOTING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
Department of Defense
Washington Headquarters Services
1155 Defense Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20301-1155
Toll-free 800-438-8683
↳ For Election Materials (Including FPCA/FWAB printable forms) go to: http://www.fvap.gov/eo/overview/materials/forms
↳ For Election Official Information (Guides for Processing Voting Materials / Sending Ballots / Election Official Online Training) go to: http://www.fvap.gov/eo
↳ For the electronic Voting Assistance Guide go to: http://www.fvap.gov/vao/vag
↳ For FVAP.gov homepage go to: http://www.fvap.gov/
Military and Overseas Voters
The federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) and conforming state legislation cover active duty members of the US armed forces, the merchant marine, spouses and dependents of all, and US citizens residing overseas. They may apply for voter registration and for Vote by Mail ballots with a Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) which may be obtained from a Voting Assistance Officer (VAO) or at www.fvap.gov, the web site of the Federal Voting Assistance Program. Vote by Mail requests from these voters will be effective for all elections through the next two regularly scheduled general elections.
UOCAVA voters may also use the Florida registration form, notate their military status on it, and the same privileges would apply to them. Military voters residing within the county in which they wish to register should use the Florida Voter Registration Application and indicate their military status, so the supervisor may insure their UOCAVA status when they move out of the county but wish to maintain voting residency.
Overseas voters (those with an APO, FPO or foreign address only, not Hawaii, American Samoa, etc.) may have Vote by Mail ballots faxed or emailed, if there is a problem with mail.
Ballots can be returned by fax, but not by email, and voter then waives secrecy. However, access to faxed ballots in the elections office is extremely restricted and ballots are immediately placed in secrecy envelopes without handling. Only the Voter's Certificate, which must be signed and dated, is examined.
For those overseas voters who provide an email address, we will advise them of the races by email when that is available at least 30 days before an election. We encourage all UOCAVA voters to include their email addresses on any forms or correspondence, and to update them along with mailing addresses whenever they move.
The most important thing to remember is to notify the elections office of address changes so you don't jeopardize your active voter registration status, and email is the best way. Additional information for UOCAVA voters is available from the Federal Voting Assistance Program, toll-free 1-800-438-8683, fax 1-800-368-8683, and email [email protected].