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Voting residency guidelines for US citizens living overseas
by the Federal Voting Assistance Program

During the course of an election year, the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) receives numerous queries from citizens voting under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) regarding their state of residence for voting purposes. While the issue of voting residency can be complex, the following are general guidelines for helping members of the Uniformed Services, the merchant marine and their family members and all overseas civilian citizens to determine their state of legal residence for voting purposes.

Uniformed services & family members

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 requirements. The following are basic guidelines to follow in determining residency for military personnel and their family members:

·    One must have or have had physical presence in the state and at the same time intended to make the state his/her home or domicile.

·    One may only have a single legal residence at a time, but may change residency each time he or she is transferred to a new location. One 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, obtaining a driver’s license, etc.

·  Once residence is changed, a person may not revert to the previous residence without re-establishing physical presence and the 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 as the military member’s legal residence even though the person or his/her relatives no longer live at that location, as long as the military member does not establish a legal 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.

Voting age 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.

Each individual must meet the physical presence and intent to remain or return criteria. Minors typically assume the legal residence of either parent 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.

Overseas civilian citizens

The following general guidelines are for citizens residing outside the United States, who are not active duty military or their family members, in determining their state of legal residence for voting purposes.

·      “Legal state of residence” for voting purposes is the state where you last resided immediately prior to your departure from the United States. 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.

·      Eligibility to vote and residency requirement is determined by the state. Your right to vote in your state and determination of voting precinct depend on your physical residence while you were in the state.

·        Only 17 states, to date, provide exemption to the physical presence law for UOCAVA citizens overseas. These states allow eligible US citizens who have never resided in the US to register and vote where a parent would be eligible to vote. See the 2006-07 Voting Assistance Guide (at http://www.fvap.gov) for specific information.

·     The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) of 1986 provides that exercising the right to vote in elections for Federal offices under the Act should not affect for purposes of any Federal, state or local tax, the residence or domicile of a person exercising such right.

·    Voting for Federal offices 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. Consult your legal counsel or tax adviser with specific questions.

Voting Assistance Officers at Embassies and Consulates will assist overseas US citizens in obtaining and completing Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) requests for registration and absentee 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 for FPCA forms and other election materials to be mailed back to your local voting jurisdiction in the US where absentee registration and ballot requests are actually processed. Organizations of American citizens overseas such as Democrats Abroad, Republicans Abroad, etc. and overseas corporations have the voting materials necessary to assist citizens in requesting registration and ballot.

If you have further questions that cannot be answered locally, please contact the FVAP directly.

Change of Address – YOUR Responsibility!

It is the citizens’ responsibility to notify their local election official of changes in their mailing address (where the citizen needs their ballot mailed). Many local election officials report that absentee voting materials mailed to citizens are returned to them marked “Address Unknown.” This problem may be caused by changes in duty stations or overseas residence addresses.

Use a Federal Post Card Application (FPCA), SF 76. FVAP highly recommends that the FPCA be completed in its entirety and submitted every year. In addition to informing the local election official of the citizen’s current mailing address, submitting the FPCA will register or confirm the citizen’s registration, and acts as a request for absentee ballots for any elections to be held that year.

When completing the revised (Rev. 10-2005) FPCA enter the following additional information to notify the local election official of your address change. In Item 4 (Where To Send My Voting Materials) enter “NEW ADDRESS” in the top of this box. In Item 6 (Additional Information) write your previous address and enter “OLD ADDRESS”. As a result, the FPCA will serve as a simultaneous absentee ballot request and a change of address form for voting purposes.

Remember, the FPCA must be properly completed and legible in order for it to be processed by the local election official. Completion instructions for each state can be found in Chapter 3 of the 2006-07 Voting Assistance Guide (also on the FVAP website at http://www.fvap.gov. A second option to indicate a change in address is writing a letter to your local election official with your name, date of birth, and both new and old addresses. The new address is where you would like to receive your ballot.

Note: The FPCA does not require postage if mailed within the US mails.

When using any of the options provided, it is important to include a voter registration number or Social Security Number and any further information that can help the local election official properly identify you.

Submit an address change early enough so that you have enough time to receive, vote your ballot, and return it to the local election official to meet state deadlines. Addresses for local election officials can also be found in Chapter 3 of the Guide (at http://www.fvap.gov) at the end of the instruction section for each state.

If you return to your state of legal voting residence, or separate from military service, be sure to notify your Local Election Official that you plan on voting at the polls in the next election.

Also in this section:
Chinese community pays its respects to ancestors
American medical mission in Arraijan
For US citizens living abroad who want to vote in November
New expat center in Panama City