Getting and returning your ballot from abroad

Getting your ballot is the easy part, since federal law makes states offer it electronically. Getting it back is where the 50 states go their separate ways, so check your state's return rules the day the ballot lands.

The short version

Under federal law, states must send requested ballots to overseas voters at least 45 days before a federal election and must offer an electronic way to deliver blank ballots [1].
You pick delivery on your Federal Post Card Application (FPCA): mail, email or online, or fax [2]. Email or online is the fastest choice from almost anywhere.
Return rules vary a lot. Colorado takes voted ballots by mail, email, fax or an online portal; California takes mail or fax; Texas and Iowa want paper back by mail or courier [3][4][5][10].
Deadlines differ too. California counts mailed ballots postmarked by Election Day and received within 7 days; Texas wants overseas ballots in hand by the fifth day after Election Day [7][8].
You can drop a voted ballot at a US embassy or consulate for the diplomatic pouch, with US postage or a postage-paid envelope [9].

How your blank ballot reaches you

When you fill in the FPCA, Section 5 asks how you want your voting materials. The options are mail, email or online, and fax [2]. That choice sets everything else in motion, so give it a second's thought.

Email or online. The election office emails you the ballot as a PDF or sends you a link to a state or county portal where you download it. This is what most overseas voters should choose. The MOVE Act of 2009 made electronic delivery of blank ballots mandatory in every state [1].
Fax. Still offered in many states, but not all. Texas law, for one, doesn't allow blank ballots to be faxed at all [8]. Unless you live somewhere with flaky internet and a reliable fax line, skip it.
Mail. A paper ballot in an envelope. It's the default in some states if you leave the box blank [8], and it can take weeks to cross an ocean, then weeks to come back. If you're in a country with slow or unpredictable post, mail delivery is a gamble.

A few states go further. California sends a ballot automatically to every active registered voter for every election [5], and Texas lets you ask for a ballot by common or contract carrier if you pay for it [8].

When it should arrive

States have to send ballots at least 45 days before a federal election to anyone whose request came in by then, unless the Defense Department grants a hardship waiver [1]. For a general election in early November, that puts the send-out in mid to late September. If October rolls around and you've seen nothing, check your spam folder, then your state's ballot lookup, then email the local election office. If time is running out, the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot is your Plan B.

Printing an emailed ballot

An emailed ballot isn't a digital vote. In most states you print it, mark it by hand in blue or black ink, and send it back on paper. FVAP's instructions say that if you print a ballot yourself, you seal it in a plain envelope marked "Official Ballot Envelope" [2]. Follow your state's own instructions to the letter, because many include a separate oath or certificate page you must sign.

Sending it back: the three routes

By mail or courier

Every state accepts a voted ballot by mail. You have several ways to get it there [2][9]:

Local post. Use your host country's mail with the right international postage.
A US embassy or consulate. Anyone can drop off a filled-out ballot or an FPCA at the nearest embassy or consulate, which sends it to the US through the diplomatic pouch. Address it to your local election office and add enough US postage, or use a postage-paid envelope from the FVAP website [9]. Check your embassy's voting page for drop-off hours, especially near Election Day.
APO, FPO or DPO. If you have access to military or diplomatic mail, that counts as US mail [2].
A private courier. International express services work, and Texas explicitly accepts ballots returned by common or contract carrier [8]. It costs more, sometimes a lot more, but you get tracking and speed.

The postage-paid envelope covers US postage only. In a foreign mail system you'll still need local stamps [2].

By fax

Some states accept a faxed voted ballot from overseas voters. California does, for voters outside the US, as long as you fax it to your county elections office along with a signed Oath of Voter form [5][7]. FVAP no longer forwards faxed ballots for California voters, so it goes straight to the county [7]. California also asks you to mail the original afterward if you can [7].

By email or online portal

A smaller group of states takes voted ballots electronically from overseas citizens. Colorado lets UOCAVA voters return ballots by email, fax or its secure document upload system [3]. Alabama offers online return for voters outside the US who asked for an electronic ballot [6].

When you return a voted ballot by email or fax, you give up some secrecy. FVAP's cover sheet makes you sign that "by faxing or emailing my voted ballot I am voluntarily waiving my right to a secret ballot" [2]. In practice, election staff see your choices next to your name before they transfer them to a countable ballot. Plenty of people accept that trade for speed. Just know you're making it.

Mail-only states

Several states don't take electronic returns from civilians abroad at all. Texas accepts a voted ballot from overseas by mail or courier; fax is for those in a hostile fire area and email return is limited to certain military voters [4][8]. Iowa says overseas civilians must return ballots by mail unless they are in a hostile fire area [10]. If your state is on that side of the line, budget mail time from day one.

Return rules in a few states

These examples are from FVAP's current state guides and the state election offices. Rules change, so confirm on your state's FVAP page before every election.

State	Blank ballot by	Voted ballot back by	Return deadline (general election)
California	Mail, email or online, fax; ballot sent automatically to active voters [5]	Mail, or fax from outside the US [5][7]	Mail: postmarked by Election Day, received within 7 days. Fax: received by 8 p.m. on Election Day [7]
Colorado	Mail, email or online, fax [3]	Mail, email, fax or online upload [3]	See FVAP's Colorado deadline chart
Texas	Mail (default), email, or paid courier; no fax [8]	Mail or courier; fax only in a hostile fire area [4][8]	Received by the fifth day after Election Day [8]
Iowa	Mail, email or online, fax [10]	Mail, unless in a hostile fire area [10]	See FVAP's Iowa deadline chart
Alabama	Mail, email or online [6]	Mail, or online if outside the US and you asked for an electronic ballot [6]	See FVAP's Alabama deadline chart

Postmark versus receipt: read the fine print

This is the detail that sinks more ballots than any other. States set two kinds of deadline:

Postmark or sign-by deadlines. California counts a mailed ballot postmarked on or before Election Day, as long as it arrives within 7 days [7].
Receipt deadlines. The ballot must physically be at the election office by a set day. Texas gives overseas voters until the fifth day after Election Day [8]. Faxed ballots in California must arrive by 8 p.m. on Election Day itself [7].

Even when a postmark is enough, many foreign postal services don't postmark the way the USPS does, or the stamp is smudged. Treat the receipt date as your real deadline and mail early. FVAP's analysis of the 2020 general election found that almost 70 percent of overseas citizens' counted ballots arrived 10 or more days before Election Day, while rejected ballots tended to arrive close to it [11]. Ten days of padding is a good habit. Two to three weeks is better if your local post is slow.

Tracking your ballot

Federal law requires states to let UOCAVA voters check through a free system whether their ballot was received [1]. Most do it through the state or county voter lookup. Colorado uses its GoVoteColorado site, Iowa has an absentee ballot status search, and Texas has an FPCA portal [3][8][10]. If you mailed through the embassy or a courier, keep the receipt or tracking number, and check the state lookup about a week after you expect delivery.

A simple game plan

In January, send your FPCA and choose email or online delivery. Our step-by-step guide on registering from abroad walks through it.
Look up your state's return rules on FVAP.gov before the ballot arrives, so you know whether you can email it or need a stamp.
When the ballot lands, vote that week. Don't let it sit in your inbox until Halloween.
Send it by the fastest route your state accepts, and sign every page that asks for a signature.
Check the tracker until it says received.
No ballot by early October? Use the FWAB.

Getting and returning your ballot from abroad: email, fax or mail