Military and Overseas Voters
Military and Overseas Voters
U.S. citizens residing outside the United States along with members of the Uniformed Services and their family members are eligible to use the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) form to request a by-mail ballot. The FPCA also serves as an application for temporary voter registration for eligible citizens not currently registered to vote. Please review the following requirements and information for requesting a ballot via the FPCA form.
Texas Residency
Having a permanent residence address in Fort Bend County is a prerequisite to requesting ballots from Fort Bend County. Residence is defined in Section 1.015 of the Texas Election Code as the voter’s permanent home to which he or she intends to return after any temporary absence. This definition implies that you must have lived at the location at one time and intend to return, so generally you cannot list a location where you have never been physically present.
U.S. citizens whose most recent domicile was in Fort Bend County, but whose intent to return is uncertain may vote a federal ballot only. Voters in this category must indicate in the “Remarks” area of the FPCA that they are applying for a federal ballot only.
How to obtain an FPCA form
Postage-paid FPCA forms are available from U.S. embassies, consulates, and from the voting assistance officer at each military installation. An online version of the FPCA form is available from the website of the Federal Voting Assistance Program.
Click here to view and print the online FPCA form
Completing the FPCA
- The last 4 digits of your Social Security number OR your Texas driver’s license number is required for voter registration in Texas.
- You must provide your political party preference in Item 6 of the FPCA form if you wish to vote in Primary elections. Party preference is not required if you are requesting by-mail ballots only for general elections.
- It is strongly recommended that FPCA applicants provide an e-mail address and fax number (if available) in the “Remarks” section of the FPCA so that we can quickly contact you if your application is missing required information.
Submitting the completed FPCA form
A completed FPCA form must be submitted to the Elections Administration Department by mail, common contract carrier, or by fax. If submitting the FPCA by fax, please also send the original form to us by mail. Please note that unlike the cardstock version of the FPCA, users of the online FPCA must place the printed form in an envelope and affix postage. At present there are no provisions to allow for submission of the FPCA through the Internet. Please return your FPCA to:
Fort Bend County Elections
4520 Reading Road
Rosenberg, Texas 77471-2133
Fax (281) 341-4418
The Federal Voting Assistance Program also provides assistance in faxing FPCA forms from locations outside the United States. See this website for more information: http://www.fvap.gov/contact/toll-free-fax/index.html
Dates for submitting the completed FPCA
In order to receive a full ballot, the FPCA application must be received by the Elections Administration Department or postmarked no later than the 30th day before election day. Also, the applicant will receive a full ballot if the FPCA is submitted after the 30th day before election day and before the 6th day before election day AND the applicant is already registered to vote in Fort Bend County.
An FPCA applicant will receive a federal ballot ONLY if the FPCA is submitted after the 30th day before election day and the person is NOT already registered to vote in Fort Bend County.
Receiving your ballot
If your completed FPCA is timely received, your ballot will be sent to you by mail. Texas law does not allow you to receive the blank ballot by fax or e-mail.
Returning your ballot
Your voted ballot must be returned by mail or by common or contract carrier (certain exceptions apply – see “Faxing your ballot” below).
Your voted ballot must be received no later than 7:00 PM on election day, except that ballots cast from outside the United States may be counted if it was mailed before the polls closed and it is received not later than the fifth day after election day. The 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 before 7:00 PM on election day. It will be presumed timely received if there is no postmark or receipt mark but all other requirements are met. Voted ballots should be mailed or sent by common or contract carrier to the Fort Bend County central mail center address in Richmond:
Fort Bend County Elections
301 Jackson Street
Richmond, Texas 77469
Faxing your ballot
In certain circumstances, some military voters are eligible to return their voted ballots by fax. Texas law provides for the electronic transmission of a mail ballot by a military voter and his or her spouse and dependents IF the ballot is cast from an area in which the voter is eligible to receive hostile fire pay or imminent danger pay or a location that has been designated by the President of the United States as a combat zone. Please note that an electronically transmitted ballot submitted under these circumstances supersedes any other ballot transmitted to the Elections Administration Department.
If you are eligible to take advantage of this procedure, it is recommended that you fax your ballot through the Federal Voting Assistance Program’s clearinghouse. For more information see this website: http://www.fvap.gov/resources/media/appendix_b.pdf
Federal write-in ballot (FWAB)
A special write-in ballot is available under very specific circumstances for U.S. citizens residing outside the United States and members of the Uniformed Services and their family members. The Federal write-in ballot (FWAB) may be used in any general, special, primary, or runoff election for Federal office ONLY if ALL of the following circumstances apply:
- You must be casting the ballot from outside the United States,
- You must have applied for a regular ballot using the FPCA form so that the request is received by Fort Bend County at least 30 days before the election, AND
- You have not yet received the regular ballot.
In summary, the FWAB is valid only when a regular ballot has already been requested in a timely manner, and it has not yet been received.
The FWAB is generally available where FPCA forms are available (see above) with the exception that there is currently no online version of the FWAB. The FWAB is also available from the Federal Voting Assistance Program (www.fvap.gov).
Still have questions?
Please contact us if you need further information on voting by mail.
Links to other resources:
Federal Voting Assistance Program
Texas Secretary of State’s Election Division
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