JULY 10, 2024 – Being stationed or deployed overseas can be both rewarding and challenging. One of these challenges is staying connected and informed about policies and issues back home. However, U.S. citizens can ensure their voices are heard through absentee voting, even while overseas.
The Uniformed and Overseas Citizen Absentee Voting Act protects the voting rights of U.S. citizens who are 18 years or older, to include active-duty service members of the U.S. Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz, their eligible family members, and all U.S. citizens residing outside the continental United States.
According to the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP), the first step is to submit a Federal Post Card Application (FPCA). This standardized application, used across all states, serves as both a voter registration form and an absentee ballot request form, ensuring eligibility to receive a ballot for all federal elections for at least one calendar year.
Whether you are a first-time voter or have previously voted absentee, you must complete an FPCA each calendar year to participate in elections as an overseas absentee voter.
To vote in the November 2024 election, U.S. citizens overseas need to have completed a FPCA in 2024.
Even if you have never voted while overseas before, the process is easy.
- Request your ballot: Complete a new FPCA. You must complete a new FPCA after January 1, 2024, to ensure you receive your ballot for the 2024 elections. Submitting the FPCA allows you to request absentee ballots for all elections for federal offices (President, U.S. Senate, and U.S. House of Representatives) including primaries and special elections during the calendar year in which it is submitted. All local election officials in all U.S. states and territories accept the FPCA.
- You can complete the FPCA online at FVAP.gov. The online voting assistant will ask you questions specific to your state. We encourage you to request your blank ballots be delivered electronically (by email, internet download, or fax, depending on your state). Include your email address on your FPCA to take advantage of the electronic ballot delivery option. Return the FPCA per the instructions on the website. The online voting assistant will tell you if your state allows the FPCA to be returned electronically or if you must submit a paper copy with original ink signature. If you must return a paper version, please follow the same instructions below for returning your ballot.
- Receive and complete your ballot: States are required to send out ballots 45 days before a regular election for federal office and generally send ballots at least 30 days before primary elections. For most states, you can confirm your registration and ballot delivery online.
- Return your completed ballot: While some states allow you to return your completed ballot electronically, others do not. If your state requires you to return paper voting forms or ballots to local election officials, you can do so free of charge at the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate. Place your ballot in a postage-paid return envelope (this template can be printed on or affixed to any envelope), or in an envelope bearing sufficient domestic U.S. postage, and address it to the relevant local election officials. You can also return your FPCA or ballot to your local election officials via international mail or professional courier service at your own expense.
You can always get voting assistance from the embassy/consulate or drop off your completed voting forms and ballots, addressed to your local election officials, during the following hours:
For the embassy in Berlin:
U.S. Citizens wishing to drop off ballots can do so at the Hüttenweg entrance (Clayallee 170, 14195 Berlin) of the U.S. Embassy building located in Dahlem between the hours of 1-3 p.m., Monday through Friday (except U.S. and German holidays). Please bring a form of identification (preferably a U.S. passport) and inform the guard that you would like to drop off voting materials. Ballots will not be accepted at the embassy building in Mitte near the Brandenburg Gate.
For the consulate general in Frankfurt:
U.S. citizens wishing to drop off ballots can do so at the Consular entrance (Gießener Str. 30, 60435 Frankfurt) of the Consulate General between the hours of 7 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday through Friday (except U.S. and German holidays). Please bring a form of identification (preferably a U.S. passport) and inform the guard that you would like to drop off voting materials. The guard will show you to the voting materials drop-box where you can leave your registration or ballot.
For the Consulate General in Munich:
U.S. citizens wishing to drop off ballots can do so at the Consular entrance (Von-der-Tann Straβe) of the Consulate General (Koeniginstraβe 5 München 80539) between the hours of 1-3 p.m., Monday through Friday (except U.S. and German holidays). Please bring a form of identification (preferably a U.S. passport) and inform the guard that you would like to drop off voting materials. The guard will show you to the voting materials drop-box where you can leave your registration or ballot.
Please note that all visitors to the embassy or consulates general are subject to security screening and you will not be permitted to bring electronic devices, including cell phones, inside the facility. Also note that it can take up to four weeks for mail to reach its destination if sent by an embassy or consulate via diplomatic pouch. All U.S. citizens are advised to submit their forms and ballots accordingly.
Any U.S. citizen voter in Germany, regardless of location, may elect to submit their ballot by mail within Germany to the U.S. Embassy in Berlin. U.S. citizens wishing to drop off ballots in-person at one of the U.S. Consulates General in Düsseldorf, Hamburg, or Leipzig can email GermanyACS@state.gov to coordinate a time to do so.
For submission by mail, U.S. citizens throughout Germany may mail their documents to the U.S. Embassy in Berlin using any local courier. Simply place your sealed envelope containing your ballot inside a local mailing envelope addressed to:
U.S. Consulate Berlin
ATTN: DPO/Election Material
Clayallee 170
14195 Berlin
Upon receipt, the embassy will forward the inner envelope to the United States using the diplomatic pouch. IMPORTANT: You must include your home address in Germany as the return address on both envelopes. Any envelope received without a return address cannot be forwarded through the diplomatic pouch and will be discarded.
Please see the FVAP links page for resources you can use to research candidates and issues. FVAP regularly sends information about election dates and deadlines through their Voting Alerts. Email vote@fvap.gov to subscribe or follow FVAP on Facebook or X.
Learn more at FVAP.gov. If you have any questions about the process of voting while overseas, please contact please contact VoteBerlin@state.gov, VoteFrankfurt@state.gov, or VoteMunich@state.gov.
Remember, your vote matters!
USAG Rheinland-Pfalz serves, supports, and secures the total force community enabling power projection for the European Theater.
By Spc. Matthew Poe