What You Need to Know About Voting From Abroad

“Will you vote in U.S. elections if you retire to Portugal?” asked every friend and family member after we announced that Jeff and I planned to move overseas.

Our simple answer was, “Yes.”

The longer answer was, “Yes. We’re not giving up our citizenship, just residency in the U.S.”

Being able to vote from Portugal, as long as we maintained our U.S. citizenship, was an important consideration when we were “thinking” about moving overseas to retire. I confess I was pleased to learn that we would still be able to exercise our right to vote in U.S. elections.

But to vote from abroad meant a new task had to be completed every year. Gosh—another new thing to remember—one of many new things.

I use my Google calendar to keep track of new things, old things, birthdays, etc. NEW tasks—that only happen once a year—are not the kind of thing that I want to trust to my 76-year-old memory, if you get my drift.

Which explains why Jeff and I decided to share this Public Service Announcement about voting from abroad. Read on to learn about this new task for your ever-growing To Do List when you move overseas.

Fall—late October through early November—is the time of year that everyone talks about voting. If I am going to vote from Portugal in the fall elections back in the U.S., I have to take care of one important item in the winter… in January, not in the fall when we’re all talking about it. And I have to do this task every year.

So I open up Google calendar on my cell phone. I enter a new task or event on a convenient date in early January. Preferably I avoid choosing a busy day… like when the house is being cleaned. The task simply says, “Complete and Submit Your FPCA.”

FPCA is the Federal Post Card Application. Overseas voters must complete the FPCA yearly or whenever there is a change to their registration information to be afforded protections guaranteed by the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA).

What protections? Primarily the following….

The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act mandates that states and territories of the USA email absentee ballots to eligible voters at least 45 days before a federal election—a protection not guaranteed when using other forms to request an absentee ballot.

Emailing an absentee ballot may extend also to state and local elections, depending on your state. Nevada was the last state of residency for Jeff and I before we moved to Portugal. Nevada is one of the states that emails state and local election ballots to citizens residing overseas.

A single FPCA form every year serves as both a voter registration application and an absentee ballot request. Eligible voters can use it to register and request a ballot simultaneously.

The FPCA covers every federal election—ONE request and voters will receive their ballots throughout the year’s election cycle—including primaries, general, run off, and special elections for federal offices.

The Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot (FWAB) is another form that folks living overseas should know about… this form acts as an emergency or “back-up” ballot for federal elections.

If a voter has made a timely request for their state ballot using the FPCA but has not received their ballot in time to return it by their state’s deadline, they can use the FWAB.

How do you access the FWAB? The website FVAP.gov offers a Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot online assistant that guides users through the form-completion process. There is also a fillable PDF form of the FWAB available for download.

To complete and submit your FPCA in January is easy and quick. You can check this item as completed on your calendar by visiting this website.

I inserted this link into my Google calendar task to make it easy-peasy for me in January. I like easy-peasy.

Every year this task is accomplished, Jeff and I have a good reason to raise a glass of Portuguese wine for a toast…

A vida é boa—Life is good!

Sincerely,

Joch Woodruff
Portugal Circle Liaison