Whether you’re living, working, or studying overseas, US citizens can vote. Our votes matter: They were the margin of victory for Biden-Harris in 2020 in two key states, among other wins.

The US State Department recommends that “all US citizens living abroad complete and submit a new Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) annually, to ensure you remain on your state’s voter rolls and to ensure your local election office has your up-to-date contact information. VoteFromAbroad.org provides everything in one place to make voting easy.

All voters abroad are urged to send in an FPCA and to vote the whole ballot they receive. Even if you currently do not have an election, the FPCA will:

• ensure you are registered as an overseas voter (federal law guarantees us special protections)
• ensure you get a ballot if a special election is called
• update your voter information
• protect you from voter roll purges

What's covered here:

1. Registering to vote and requesting your ballot
2. Confirming your request has been accepted
3. Receiving your ballot
4. Voting your ballot
5. Returning your ballot
6. Confirming your ballot's arrival
7. How to get help

1. Registering to vote and requesting your ballot

• Visit VoteFromAbroad.org to fill out your Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) absentee ballot request, which takes 5 minutes. If you're not registered to vote as an abroad voter, the FPCA also serves as a voter registration form.
• Choose the option to receive ballots by email.

You should fill out an FPCA every election year to ensure you remain on your state’s overseas voter rolls and to ensure your local election office has your up-to-date contact information. When you register as an abroad voter, your ballot is afforded special protections.

If you have any questions while filling out your request form:

• email [email protected]
• call 07 555 FRDEM (07 55 53 73 36)
• ask your question in the chatbox (the red circle in the bottom right-hand corner of each screen) at VoteFromAbroad.org
• get one-on-one live voter help on Zoom, hosted and staffed by experienced voter helpers.

2. Confirming your request has been accepted

Call or email your local election official to confirm they have received your FPCA form and will be sending your ballot. (You can also include a message at the end of your FPCA form asking them to confirm they’ve received your form and will send a ballot.) Look up their contact info here.

3. Receiving your ballot

As overseas voters, we get special protections mandated by federal law:

• States must send FPCA-requested absentee ballots to overseas voters no later than 45 days before a federal election.
• If requested, states must send overseas voters their ballot by email.
• States must accept a backup ballot (info here), called the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot, or FWAB if a ballot sent by the state is lost or a voter feels their ballot may not arrive in time.

Your ballot hasn’t arrived?

• Check your spam folder.
• Still no ballot? Contact your local election official (find their contact info here) and confirm they’ve sent your ballot to you.
• If you haven’t received your ballot by now, and your state requires postal mail return, please send in a backup ballot (info here) to make sure your vote gets to your state in time. Don’t worry: If you mail the backup ballot, but then you get your original ballot and mail that one, only one ballot will be counted if they both arrive.

4. Voting your ballot

To find information on candidates or ballot initiatives:

• Go to Ballotpedia and search “Texas elections 2026” or whatever state or race you're interested in.
• Go to the League of Women Voters' personalized ballot service.
• Google the candidate's name to find their campaign website.
• Google your county's local Democratic Party.

Make sure you're using a trusted website when reading about elections or ballot initiatives as misinformation is rampant and sometimes hard to detect.

5. Returning your ballot!

📌 Only use mail or a courier service if you cannot return your ballot electronically.

Ballot return methods—by email, online, postal mail, fax—vary by state. Find your state's exact ballot return methods here. If your state allows email, online upload, or fax for ballot return, please use these options instead of mail as they’re not subject to delay. If your state requires postal mail return, see info below on options from France.

• California voters: You can return your ballot by fax. Use an email-to-fax app like GeniusFax, or search for free or cheap internet-based services like FaxPlus, HelloFax, or CocoFax.
• New Jersey voters: NJ allows for email or fax returns but requires that the ballot ALSO be sent by postal mail.
• New York voters: How to fold the NY State General Election ballot.

International Postal Service via La Poste: 

If your state requires postal mail ballot return, you can use international mail via the French Postal Service (La Poste).

On April 2, 2026, we have been informed of several mailed ballots being returned by La Poste, despite the assurances of La Poste leadership that the service is sending flat envelopes like ballots to the US. We STRONGLY encourage you to mail a backup ballot when you mail your regular ballot; this is a benefit offered to voters abroad by federal law if you have registered using the form at VoteFromAbroad.org. (If you are registered with your state or your local election official, you are not able to take advantage of the backup ballot. Given the problems we're seeing with postal mail from France, we urge you to re-register using VoteFromAbroad.org, which will update your status and provide you with the federal protections you're entitled to, like receiving your ballot 45 days in advance and being able to submit a backup ballot.) 

This page goes into detail about the steps we recommend you take if you wish to use La Poste. 

For mailing both your regular and backup ballots:

1. Determine how much postage you need by weighing your completed/addressed ballot envelope on the machine in the La Poste bureau.
   ➡️ Enter "Canada" as the destination country: The country is not listed on the postage sticker the machine spits out.
    
2. Affix the postage sticker, exit the post office, and find a yellow La Poste box.
   ➡️ Drop the envelope in the slot labeled "autres departments / international": The other slot is labeled for the department where you're located.
   ➡️ You can also use Marianne stamps (international purple stamps called les timbres violet, image below) BUT please use the postage machine to determine how many stamps you need: Envelopes weighing 20 or more grams require two stamps, and you may need more than that if your ballot is several pages.

CONFIRMED as of March 22, 2026:

• US Consul Generale staff met with La Poste leaders this week, who confirmed mail is still being sent to the US. They will communicate with all bureaus to ensure agents know this. More info here on the La Poste website. 
• If you try to buy a stamp at the counter, and a La Poste agent tells you no mail is going to the US, please know they are misinformed. We don't recommend handing this agent your ballot but instead dropping it in a mailbox using the international slot pictured above.

If you find a properly informed La Poste agent who can help you mail your ballot: 

• Do not send it with a signature required (lettre recommandée): Local election officers will not sign for it.
• We do not recommend spending the extra money for a tracking number when sending the envelope—it’s better to confirm receipt by looking on your state’s website, or looking up your local election officer's contact details here (see below).
• Ask for a postmark or date stamp to be placed on the outer envelope. Some states require a postmark; find out your state’s requirements here.

US Embassy/Consulate diplomatic pouch:

You may return your ballot using the diplomatic pouch mail service at the US Embassy in Paris and Marseille and Strasbourg consulates. This is not same-day voting and takes FOUR to FIVE WEEKS to arrive in the US (per the embassy website), so please do this as soon as you receive your ballot if you wish to use this option.

• Use sufficient US postage on the envelope, not French postage, as if you were dropping it in a US Postal Service mailbox.
• You can use a US postage-paid return envelope (sometimes provided with your ballot) or an envelope bearing sufficient US postage. Download a free US postage-paid ballot return envelope (C4) template (only valid if using the diplomatic pouch).
• IMPORTANT: The postmark your ballot receives at the embassy or consulate is treated like a USPS postmark. Given our current struggles with La Poste, you should consider the pouch if you immediately receive and vote your ballot.

We were notified April 3, 2026, that appointments are no longer needed to use the diplomatic mail system to return your ballot. See availability of embassy/consulate voting mailboxes below:

• US Embassy in Paris: Voting mailbox available Monday-Friday 8am to 5pm; deadline 4pm for same-day postmark; [email protected], 2 Avenue Gabriel, 75008 Paris
• Marseille US Consulate General: Voting mailbox available Monday-Friday 9am to 4pm; [email protected], Place Varian Fry, 13286 Marseille Cedex 6.
• Strasbourg US Consulate General: Voting mailbox available Monday-Friday 8am to 6pm; [email protected], 15 av d'Alsace, 67082 Strasbourg Cedex .

Per the embassy website, please allow AT LEAST FOUR WEEKS from Paris, or at least FIVE weeks from a Consulate, before your state's ballot receipt deadline. Please see the US Embassy website for more information.

Courier Service:

If your state requires postal mail ballot return, the quickest option is to use a courier service.

If the ballot return address is a P.O. Box, contact your local election office in the US to confirm a delivery address, as international express couriers will not deliver to a P.O. Box.

Because of the Trump tariff mail disruptions here in France, some couriers are limiting what can be sent to the US. Please check with your preferred courier to ensure they will send a flat envelope to the US.

For states that allow ballots to arrive after election day, a “postmarked by” deadline applies. Check if your courier can provide a date stamp on the outer mailing envelope. Follow directions that come with your ballot for its return, or look up your state requirements here. If a courier service cannot provide this date stamp on the outer envelope, and your state's return date includes "postmarked by" language, you need to find another courier or utilize La Poste.

Only use a courier service if you cannot return your ballot electronically.

State-Specific Ballot Return Instructions

Review your ballot return instructions carefully: Some states have very specific instructions on folding, inserting, or mailing your ballot.

In some states, it is unlawful for any other person to handle your voted ballot, even if it is sealed. Find out your state’s requirements here.

6. Confirming your ballot's arrival at your local election office in the US

Follow up with your local election official to make sure 1️⃣ it arrived, and 2️⃣ was accepted and will be counted:

• Go to Track Your Ballot on your state’s website.
• You can also contact your local election officer directly; look up their contact details here.

Have a question? Need help?

No question is too small: Let our voting experts help!

• Email us at [email protected].
• Call 07 555 FRDEM (07 55 53 73 36).
• Ask your question in the chatbox (the red circle in the bottom right-hand corner of each screen) at VoteFromAbroad.org.
• Get one-on-one live voter help on Zoom, hosted and staffed by experienced voter helpers.

Thank you for voting from France!