You've gotten your ballot, and now it's time to send it back to the US. But how? We've put together a short explainer below!
Fax plus postal mail states (Alaska, California, Florida, Louisiana, and Oklahoma)
Fax machines are not prolific in the Czech Republic. Instead we recommend email to fax! There are many commercial services available, such as fax.plus or efax.com. You can also google "email to fax solutions" for more options.
Postal mail only states (Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey**, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.)
Czech Post
If you need to send your ballot back to the US by Czech Post and wish to send it by international priority, you may use a Z stamp or 45 CZK stamp for mail weighing up to 50g.
Courier (FedEx, DHL, etc).
Call your local election office in the United States to check out the best address, and then check out courier solutions. The cheapest we've found so far is DHL's Service Point - they are currently offering a 20% discount with a special code (check their page for more details). There are many other courier solutions available as well, this is not a recommendation or advertisement.
U.S. Embassy diplomatic pouch
Mailing your ballot through the embassy is free IF you use an elections material U.S. postage paid return envelope (the envelope template is usually provided with your ballot, and is also available at FVAP.gov). You may also mail your ballot in an envelope with sufficient U.S. postage.
Please note that using the diplomatic pouch does not mean your ballot will arrive faster. The embassy generally estimates that it can take a month or more for mail to arrive at its destination in the U.S.
The U.S. Embassy is located in Prague at Tržiště 365/15, 118 00 in Malá Strana.
Ballots can be dropped off at the American Citizens Services unit any business day from 8:30 a.m. to noon or from 1 to 4 p.m. The embassy asks that you bring some form of ID, preferably your U.S. passport. Ballots should be sealed but will be x-rayed.
Email/online states (Alabama*, Arizona***, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska***, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Washington State, Washington DC, West Virginia, Wyoming
Follow the instructions on your ballot material and ask us if you have questions! Also, don't be tempted to delay, since the pandemic, regular absentee voting has grown enormously in the States, which means the sooner voters from abroad send ours in (even by email!) the better.
*Alabama voters must demonstrate that they are voting from abroad in order to be allowed to submit their ballot electronically. See Alabama's guidelines.
** If you email your ballot to New Jersey, you must also immediately postal mail it back in.
***Arizona, and Nebraska voters should ask their local election offices about voting online.
Need more help? Send us an email at [email protected] or [email protected]
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