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Military/Overseas Voters

To our military voters – thank you. We want to make the process of voting as easy as possible for you and will do all we can to make the process run smoothly. Military and overseas voters are welcome to use the regular registration and absentee mail process available to all voters away from their home jurisdiction on Election Day. There are also special provisions which we hope will make voting absentee an easy process for you.

Along with this website, you may obtain information and assistance about voting from many sources including APO and FPO facilities, U.S. Embassies and Consulates and your Voting Assistance Officer on military bases. The two major political parties give information for military and overseas voters on their websites: www.republicansabroad.com and www.democratsabroad.org

Federal voting law defines "overseas" as anywhere outside the United States including Canada and Mexico.

UOCAVA

The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) requires states to allow certain groups of citizens to register and vote absentee in elections for Federal offices. U.S. citizens may vote in the state where they last resided immediately prior to departing the United States, even though many years have passed and the intent to return to that state may not be certain.

Each uniformed and overseas voter who submits an absentee ballot request will receive an absentee ballot through the next two regularly scheduled general elections for federal office.

Missouri requires voters to be registered at least thirty days prior to an election in order to vote a full ballot (includes local and state issues). Without prior registration, military and overseas voters may vote only for federal candidates.

Federal Post Card Application

The Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) is a form provided by federal law to permit members of the U.S. armed forces and merchant marines, their dependents, and U.S. citizens abroad to register to vote and request their absentee ballot by mail. For more information about military and overseas voting, visit http://www.fvap.gov/index.html

Who is eligible?

You are eligible to vote early with an FPCA if you are qualified to vote in Missouri and you are:

Missouri Residency

Having a permanent residence address in Missouri is a prerequisite to requesting ballots from Missouri. Although there is no clear definition of "residence" in Missouri law, it is generally described as your place of domicile.

If you have a permanent residence address in Missouri that you can claim for voting purposes, you may follow the procedures outlined next to request a ballot by mail. The FPCA combines a request for ballot by mail, and acts as your voter registration. This means that if you file an FPCA, you are treated as a registered voter, whether you were previously on the permanent registration rolls or not. However, even if you use the FPCA, you will still need to describe a place in Missouri you consider your permanent home and to which you intend to return.

One of the benefits of the FPCA is that if you file it more than 28 days before an election, you are entitled to vote a Federal Write-in Ballot (discussed under Special write-in ballot), a special ballot which is accepted for counting even if you did not receive the official ballot in time. Additionally, FPCA mailing materials are treated as express mail by the U. S. Postal Service at no additional cost. Be sure to provide on the FPCA your residence address and the address to which you want your ballot mailed.

Because local election authorities conduct Missouri elections, you will need to submit all information directly to the county clerk or election board in the jurisdiction of your residence. To find the correct address, check: http://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/countyclerks.asp

Submitting the application

An FPCA must be submitted to your local election authority by mail or common contract carrier. It does not require postage if mailed in the U.S. postal system, which includes all U.S. military post offices (APO/FPO) overseas as well as diplomatic pouches. The FPCA may also be sent postage-free through the diplomatic pouch at Embassies and Consulates; however, they may not have a regular pick up schedule. In some cases, it might be better to pay for either international mail or private air courier service. If you are mailing election materials from overseas, the FPCA may be submitted:

With the FPCA, you will automatically request ballots for all elections your county or city conducts in a calendar year in which you are eligible to vote. You do not have to indicate the specific election in which you want to vote.

Federal ballot only

Applicants receive a federal ballot if NOT permanently registered by the fourth Wednesday prior to an upcoming federal election. The FPCA application contains the requisite information for voting in federal elections through two federal election cycles.

Voting a full ballot

In order to receive a full ballot, a completed FPCA or Missouri voter registration application must be submitted to the county clerk or election board at least 28 days before election day. Also, an applicant receives a full ballot if the FPCA is submitted after the 28th day and before the 6th day AND the applicant is already registered to vote in that jurisdiction.

Special write-in ballot

Missouri provides a special write-in ballot if you are unable to vote by other means due to the requirements of military service or due to living in an isolated or extremely remote area of the world. You may request the special write-in ballot by FPCA (item 7) or by a letter sent directly to your local election authority. You may use this special write-in ballot to write in the offices, party preference or names of the candidates you prefer. If you apply for a state write-in ballot, you will not be sent an official printed ballot unless the official printed ballot is available for mailing at the time your FPCA is received. If a voter returns a special write-in ballot and later returns a regular absentee ballot prior to the deadline, only the regular absentee ballot will be counted.

You may apply for this state special write-in ballot within 80 days before the election. If you submit an FPCA for the entire year and request a state special write-in ballot, the request will be honored for any election held within 80 days of the request. If you wish to receive a state special write-in ballot for an election held outside the 80 days of submission of your FPCA, you must make another request for the state special write-in ballot by sending a second FPCA requesting a state special write-in ballot.

Application with missing information

If an FPCA is missing information required for registration, the clerk or board must notify the applicant. If the information is supplemented before the deadline, the applicant is entitled to a ballot. If the missing information is supplemented after the deadline, the applicant is entitled to receive a ballot for the next election that occurs in the same calendar year and at least 28 days after the date the supplemental information is submitted. An applicant is not considered registered until all information is received.

Primary voting

Primary elections in Missouri are held for political parties to nominate candidates for the general election. Any applicant wishing to vote in a primary election must give a political party preference when submitting their FPCA (item #6) if they want to participate in that party's primary election.

Counting your ballot

The absentee envelope in which the ballot is returned must be properly addressed with postage, sent from an address outside the United States, and bear a cancellation mark from a postal service or a receipt mark from a common or contract carrier and must be received by the election authority before 7:00 p.m.on election day. It will be presumed timely received if there is no postmark or receipt mark but all other requirements are met.

Notary requirement

If your absentee envelope indicates a notary signature is required, active duty military, their spouses and dependents, and overseas voters are NOT REQUIRED to have their signatures notarized. Even if the election authority has not crossed it out, ignore this part of the envelope. None of the forms needed for voting by active duty military and overseas voters need to be notarized. They must be signed by the voter, but not notarized.

Faxing your ballot

In extreme circumstances, some federal service voters are eligible to fax or e-mail their voted ballot directly to their election authority.  Missouri law (115.291.2, RSMo.) provides for the electronic transmission of a ballot by persons in federal service IF the voter is casting a ballot from a location determined by the Secretary of State to be inaccessible on Election Day. 

Secretary Carnahan has declared certain areas inaccessible for the 2006 August primary election and the 2006 November general election.  This will allow federal service voters in those areas to return their ballots electronically, by fax or e-mail, directly to their election authority.  An online copy of Secretary Carnahan's declaration pdf file is available. An online list of countries inaccessible on Election Day  pdf file is also available.

Those voters will receive information about faxing or e-mailing their ballots from their election authority.  Local election authorities have been instructed to provide you with their fax and/or e-mail address.  Instructions for Election Authorities pdf file on handling electronically transmitted absentee ballots and Ballot Instructions for Federal Service Voters pdf file can be obtained online.  A cover sheet pdf file is required when faxing or e-mailing voted ballots to election authorities.

Voter registration

While an FPCA is used to register applicants for the elections for which they are requesting ballots, you may also complete the voter registration process at any time by completing a voter registration application and mailing it directly to your local election authority. You may have a card sent to you: http://www.sos.mo.gov/firstvote/students/request.asp

Voting by overseas citizens

A United States citizen whose most recent domicile was Missouri, but whose intent to return to Missouri is uncertain, may vote only a federal ballot. To be eligible, you must be qualified to vote in the last place in which you were domiciled before leaving the United States. Voters in this category must use the FPCA application, indicating they are applying for a federal ballot only. The FPCA must be submitted to the county clerk or election board where you were most recently domiciled in this state. Don't forget to give your political party affiliation for the primary election. Additionally, the general provisions governing the application for more than one election by a single FPCA also apply to a federal ballot application as described here. One application will cover you for the primary and general elections through two election cycles.

Deadlines

How to obtain an FPCA form

FPCA's may be obtained by eligible voters from voting assistance officers within their branch of service, from a U.S. consulate or embassy, or from the Federal Voting Assistance Program of the Department of Defense, Washington, D.C. 20301, 1-(800)-438-VOTE(8683).

Elections Division
Office of the Secretary of State:
P.O. Box 1767 Jefferson City, Missouri 65101
http:// www.sos.mo.gov

(573-751-2301)
1-800-669-VOTE(8683)
Fax (573) 526-3242