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Voting Residency Guidelines for UOCAVA Citizens |
Federal Voting Assistance Program U.S. Department of Defense
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Frequently, the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) receives queries from UOCAVA citizens regarding their state of residence for voting purposes.
Because the issue of voting residency may be complex, the following are general guidelines for helping you determine your state of legal residence for voting purposes. Always consult with legal counsel for specifics.
The guidelines are provided here in text format and can also be downloaded in Acrobat format for future reference and/or printing.
Click here for the Guidelines for Members of the Uniformed Services and Family Members
Click here for the Acrobat version of the Guidelines for Members of the Uniformed Services and Family Members
Click here for the Guidelines for Citizens Residing Outside the United States
Click here for the Acrobat version of the Guidelines for Citizens Residing Outside the United States
Note: The Adobe Acrobat version requires Acrobat Reader 7.0 or higher to view. If you do not have an Acrobat Reader loaded on your computer, you may download it free from Adobe's web site.Download Acrobat Reader
Foremost, you should keep in mind that Uniformed Service personnel and their family members may not arbitrarily choose which state to declare as their legal voting residence without meeting the state's residency requirement. The following are basic guidelines to follow in determining residency for military personnel and their family members:
•You must have or had physical presence in the state and simultaneously the intent to remain or make the state your home or domicile.
•You may only have one legal residence at a time, but may change residency each time you are transferred to a new location. You must make a conscious decision to change residency; it cannot be done accidentally. There must be certain specific actions which may be interpreted as conscious decisions, e.g., registering to vote, registering a car, qualifying for in-state tuition, etc.
•Once residence is changed, you may not revert to the previous residence without re-establishing new physical presence and intent to remain or return.
"Home of Record" should not be confused with legal residence.
"Home of Record" is the address a military member had
upon entry into the Service. It does not change. "Home of
Record" and legal residence may be the same address, and
usually are, when a person enters military service. It can remain
so even though the person or his/her relatives no longer live
at that location, as long as the military member has not established
a residence elsewhere after entering on active duty. If a military
member changes legal residence after entering on active duty,
he/she may not revert to claiming the "Home of Record"
as legal residence without re-establishing physical presence and
intent to remain in or return to that state.
Family members of active duty military personnel may each have
a different legal residence. A spouse does not automatically assume
the legal residence of the active duty member upon marriage. The
spouse must meet the physical presence and intent to remain or
return criteria. Minors typically assume the legal residence of
either parent, and when they become 18, they also have the option
of establishing their own legal residence which can be different
from either parent, assuming they have met the guidelines of physical
presence and intent to remain or return.
These are general guidelines for determining your legal residency
for voting purposes. Consult your legal or JAG officer for specifics.
The following are voting residency guidelines for citizens residing
outside the U.S. Your "legal
state of residence" for voting purposes is the state you
last resided immediately prior to your departure from the U.S.
This right extends to overseas citizens even though they may no
longer own property or have other ties to their last state of
residence and their intent to return to that state may be uncertain.
Keep in mind that exercising your right to vote in elections for
Federal offices only does not affect the determination of
residence or domicile for purposes of any tax imposed under Federal,
state or local law. Voting in an election for Federal office
only may not be used as the sole basis to determine residency
for the purposes of imposing state and local taxes. If you claim
a particular state as your residence and have other ties with
that state in addition to voting then you may be liable
for state and local taxation, depending upon that particular state
law. Appendix E of the Voting Assistance Guide contains information on probable tax obligations. Consult
your legal counsel for specific questions.
Voting Assistance Officers at Embassies/Consulates will
assist overseas U.S. citizens in obtaining and completing Federal
Post Card Application (FPCA) requests for registration
and ballot; witnessing or notarizing FPCA forms (if required);
and providing other absentee voting information as needed. Embassy/Consulate
locations serve also as postage-free mailing points where FPCA
forms and other election materials may be mailed back to your
local voting jurisdiction in the U.S. where absentee registration
and ballot requests are actually processed. Overseas organizations
such as Democrats Abroad and Republicans Abroad
and overseas corporations have all voting materials necessary
to assist citizens in requesting registration and ballot.
Because election laws vary from state to state, please consult the current Voting Assistance Guide for further instructions and guidelines. The Guide contains state-by-state procedures to register and/or request an absentee ballot using the FPCA. All shaded areas for your state or territory (outlined in the Guide) must be completed. In the residence section of the form, enter the complete street address of your last residence in that state, including your street or rural route and number. If using a rural route number, include the specific location of residence in the "Remarks" section. Your right to vote in your state and determination of voting precinct depend on your physical residence while you were within that state.
Questions regarding the above which cannot be answered locally may be referred to the
Director, Federal Voting Assistance Program
Department of Defense
1155 Defense Pentagon
Washington DC 20301-1155
You may also reach the FVAP via email at vote@fvap.ncr.gov, telephone (703) 588-1584, DSN 425-1584, toll free at 1-800-438-8683 or from 64 countries at www.fvap.gov/services/tollfree.html.
Last updated/reviewed: December 106, 2007