Embassy of the United States

Voting Service

Voting Information for American Citizens 

Eligibility for State and Federal elections depends upon the laws and regulations of your State of residence in the U.S. The absentee voting process is designed to permit citizens who will be away from their local polling places on election day to vote by mail. Absentee voters should request their ballots at least 60 days before the election. The Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) is a postage free postcard printed and distributed by the federal government for use by absentee voters. The FPCA serves as a simultaneous registration form and application for an absentee ballot. However, the extent and manner of its use are controlled by State law and sometimes by local procedure.

To receive the FPCA or for additional information, you should contact the U.S. Embassy at (09) 616 25701 or e-mail helsinkiACS@state.gov to request the necessary forms.

The Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP), in conjunction with several states and counties, is conducting an Internet registration and voting demonstration for the 2004 election. This Congressionally mandated project is called SERVE, which stands for Secure Electronic Registration and Voting Experiment. SERVE will allow thousands of absentee uniformed services personnel, their dependents, and overseas U.S. citizens to register to vote and cast their ballots from any Windows-based computer with Internet access, anywhere in the world.

Please visit the SERVE web site at www.serveusa.gov to find out more information. The web site provides information on participating counties and states, frequently asked questions, election information, and project updates.

Voting Assistance

Our system of government depends on the active participation of our citizens in the electoral process. It is not only the right of American citizens to vote, it is their duty to do so. Being overseas certainly does not relieve us of this civic duty but it does make it more difficult. While our friends back home can cast their vote between errands or on the way to work, we must deal with absentee ballot requests and mailing times back to our various states of residence.

You can vote by absentee ballot, even if you were never registered, from your “legal state of residence.” For voting purposes this is the state where you last resided immediately prior to your departure from the U.S. If you never resided in the United States, you can register and vote in the last state your parents resided in before your birth.

Unfortunately, every Election Day, we do have citizens coming to our office looking for a voting machine. We cannot provide that service. Oversight of elections is reserved to the several states and the Federal government is not involved. However, there are several things we at the Embassy can do to help citizens vote in the elections held by their home states.

We have information about requesting absentee ballots from each of the fifty states. Remember that every citizen has a right to vote for Federal offices (President, Vice President, Senator, and Congressman.) Many states have liberal laws about letting overseas residents vote in state and local elections, too. To receive this information, send a request to our offices. Provide your mailing address and specify the state in which you will be voting. We will mail you the necessary materials to register (if you haven’t already) and to request the absentee ballot.

If your particular state requires that the registration or ballot be signed under oath, the Consular section can witness your signature at no charge. Notarial hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. Please check the notarial listing under American Citizen Services on our website, for updated information on opening hours and holidays.

If your request for a ballot is received by local election officials at least 30 days in advance of the election but it does not arrive in time to complete it and mail back, we can provide an emergency write-in ballot for you to get your vote in to be counted.

At the Consular section, we take voter assistance very seriously. If you or anyone you know is having an event to register voters or encourage voting, please let us know. We will help in any way we can.

You may also obtain guidance directly from the Federal Voter Assistance Program at their website.

Following are links to internet websites which should provide useful resources to answer questions regarding absentee voting. The main point is, you will first have to determine a voting jurisdiction in the US where you will be permitted to register. If you have ever resided in a state, owned property or had a bank account in a state, have received services (like a driver's license) from a state--these are all indications that might indicate eligibility to vote in that state. Some states allow you to claim a relative's US address as your own for voting purposes. Each state has different rules and procedures--you will need to investigate. If you check and are still uncertain, you should either contact that state's voting officials or the staff at the Federal Voting Assistance Program directly by e-mail, since time is growing short. Here are the links:

The website of the Federal Voting Assistance Program www.fvap.gov

The e-mail address to ask any question of the FVAP staff: vote@fvap.ncr.gov
and toll-free number from Finland: www.fvap.gov/services/tollfree.html

The link to the state-by-state instructions on how to register as an absentee voter, as soon as you've determined which state that would be: www.fvap.gov/pubs/vag/vagchapter3.html

The page with links to each state's election officials (usually in that state's Secretary of State office): www.fvap.gov/links/statelinks.html

Please contact this office if you still have questions after exploring these sites and contacting FVAP and state election staff directly.