This is a brief guide designed to give state and local election officials an overview of the FVAP program as it relates to them. It lists only information that might be useful locally. All information is given in thumbnail sketches and is elaborated upon in other FVAP informational channels.

What Does FVAP Do?

FVAP's job is to make sure that military personnel stationed both overseas and within the United States and overseas non-military citizens know how to register and vote and ensure that these citizens have equal access to the ballot. We call these our UOCAVA citizens.

FVAP works with the local election officials to provide the best service possible to these citizens.

Who is a UOCAVA Voter?

UOCAVA stands for The Uniformed And Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, a Federal act that spells out what must be done for military and overseas voters for Federal Elections. We call citizens covered under this act UOCAVA citizens.

UOCAVA citizens are:

• All U.S. citizens who reside outside the United States and
• All citizens who are members of the Uniformed Services and their family members, no matter where they live.

Local election officials have some UOCAVA voters who are entitled to Federal ballots only and some UOCAVA voters in the database who are entitled to full ballots.

The following are basic guidelines to follow in determining residency, including voting residency:

1. For military personnel and their family members:
   • Legal Residence is the residence one uses for all legal purposes, including voting in Federal elections.
   • They must have or have had physical presence in the state and the intent to remain or make the state their home or domicile while living there.
   • They may only have one legal residence at a time, but may change residency each time they are transferred to a new location. They must make a conscious decision to change residency; it cannot be done accidentally.
   • Once residence is changed, they may not change back to the previous residence without re-establishing new physical presence and intent to remain or return.
   • Family members of active duty military personnel may each have a different legal residence.
   • Home of Record is the address a military member had upon entry into the Service. It does not change and is not connected to legal residence.
2. For non-military:
   • Legal residence is the state where the overseas citizen last resided in the U.S.
   • The voter does not need to own property, still have other ties to their the state of residence, or be certain he/she will return to that state.
3. For both military and non-military:
   • All UOCAVA citizens have special circumstances and should seek legal counsel for guidance.

What is in the Voting Assistance Guide to Help Me?

State election officials coordinated with FVAP to provide the guidelines for each state. You can refer to the Guide when assisting military and overseas citizens from your state or jurisdiction with questions on absentee voting procedures, such as completing and submitting the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) and the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB).

You can get a copy of the Guide by calling 1-800-438-VOTE, by emailing us at vote@fvap.ncr.gov or by checking it on-line at www.fvap.gov.

The Website

The website, www.fvap.gov, contains all of FVAP's informational materials, on-line forms, and links to state election sites, Federal government sites and overseas U.S. citizen organizations.

Voting Information News (VIN)

Voting Information News (VIN) is a monthly newsletter published by FVAP that contains timely information on elections. Local election offices should subscribe to this by e-mailing us at vote@fvap.ncr.gov.

The Federal Post Card Application Form (FPCA)

The Federal Post Card Application (FPCA), also known as Standard Form 76 (SF 76), is a postage-free postcard, printed and distributed by the FVAP for use by absentee voters covered by UOCAVA. Every election year, the FVAP distributes FPCAs worldwide, serving the more than six million U.S. citizens covered by UOCAVA.

All states and territories accept the FPCA as an application for registration and for absentee ballot when used by UOCAVA citizens only. It does not serve as a national registration form. It is postage free when placed in the U.S. mail. The on-line version of the FPCA (OFPCA) is available at the Federal Voting Assistance Program's (FVAP) website, www.fvap.gov, but must be completed, printed out, signed, dated and placed in an envelope affixed with proper postage, and mailed to you, the Local Election Official.

Federal law provides that a single FPCA simultaneously serve all states and territories as both a registration form and application for absentee ballot. The extent and manner of its use is determined by state and territorial law and sometimes by local procedure. Because of varying procedures, citizens must refer to the appropriate state or territorial section of the Voting Assistance Guide to determine how to complete the FPCA.

FPCA forms should be available in every local election office.

The Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB)

Under the provisions of the UOCAVA, the FVAP also provides a "back-up" ballot, called the Federal Write In Absentee Ballot, or FWAB, available if an absent uniformed services member or citizen outside the United States (including APO and FPO addresses) does not receive the regular absentee ballot from the state after having made a timely application for the ballot. The FWAB is used to vote for Federal offices (President/Vice President, U.S. Senator, U.S. Representative, Delegate or Resident Commissioner) in general elections. Some states now allow military and overseas citizens to use the FWAB in elections other than general elections or for offices other than Federal offices. Again, the absent uniformed services member or citizen should consult Chapter 3 of the Guide for specific state or territorial requirements.

To be eligible to use the FWAB, citizens must meet three specific requirements:

• Be a Uniformed Service member (or eligible family member), or a U.S. citizen overseas (including APO/FPO).
• The citizen's request for a regular ballot was received by the local election official at least 30 days before the election or before the state's ballot request deadline, whichever is later.
• The citizen did not receive the requested regular absentee ballot from the state.

The On-Line Version of the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (OFWAB) is an alternative to the multipart stocked Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB).

In summary, the FWAB or OFWAB is only valid when a regular ballot from the state or territory has already been requested, in a timely manner, and has not been received.

Instructions for use of the OFWAB are located on Page 1 of the OFWAB under "Instructions to the Voter". Click here for the OFWAB.

This form is in Adobe Acrobat 7.0 format. If you do not have Acrobat Reader 7.0 or higher, you can get it free from the Adobe web site at www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

Consult the Voting Assistance Guide for specific state and territorial procedures.

If the form is mailed within the APO/FPO or U.S. postal systems, a postage paid envelope may be printed onto your mailing envelope. You can get this file at www.fvap.gov/pubs/returnenvelope.html.

The Faxed FPCA Application and the Faxed Ballot

The FVAP's Electronic Transmission (Faxing) Service (ETS) provides a means for citizens and state and local government officials to fax the FPCA request for registration and/or balloting.

A state may allow:

• the citizen to fax the FPCA for registration and/or a ballot request,
• the citizen to be sent the absentee ballot by fax,
• the citizen to return the voted ballot by fax, or
• any combination of the above.

The FVAP faxing service is available for election information material as well as official ballots.

Instructions for use of the ETS are available here:

• Instructions for Local Election Officials (Acrobat format)
• Instructions for Local Election Officials (Rich Text Format)

Local officials should follow the procedures set by the chief election official of the state. They should also review Appendix C, The Electronic Transmission of Election Materials-Manual for Voting Assistance Officers, in the Guide, which gives step-by-step instructions on electronic transmission (faxing) of election materials.

Because procedures vary from state-to-state, citizens should consult Chapter 3 of the Voting Assistance Guide for details.

Contacts

General Information Number: 1-800-438-VOTE (8683) or 703-588-1584
fax: 703-696-1352

Mailing address:
Federal Voting Assistance Program
Department of Defense
1155 Defense Pentagon
Washington DC 20301-1155

Last updated/reviewed: November 26, 2007