Absent Military and Overseas Electors

• Federal Post Card Application form

• Definitions, Laws, and Rules
• How to Register to Vote and Request Absentee Ballots
• How to Vote
• How to Update Your Mailing Address When You Return Home
• Sources of Information and Forms

How to Register to Vote and Request Absentee Ballots

Registering to vote and requesting absentee ballots in Montana is easy for United States electors.  The best form to use to do so is the Federal Post Card Application form.  This form is used both for voter registration and to request absentee ballots for all the state and local elections in the calendar year in which it is requested and the following two federal elections.  You can find it by doing the following:

• Print a Federal Post Card Application form, fill out and mail it to the local election office.
  
  
• Visit your local election office on weekdays between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. and complete a Federal Post Card Application form.
  
  
• Another source of information is the Federal Voting Assistance Program, which has forms and tips on registration and voting, including information about options for voting by facsimile and through the Internet.  You can also reach the FVAP at 1-800-438-VOTE (8683).

How to Vote

As soon as you are able to do so, return your voted ballot by mail in the envelope provided by your county election administrator.

Also, election administrators in certain counties allow voters to receive ballots by fax and to return them by fax: Big Horn, Broadwater, Carter, Cascade, Custer, Fallon, Fergus, Flathead, Gallatin, Garfield, Golden Valley, Hill, Jefferson, Lincoln, Madison, McCone, Mineral, Missoula, Park, Powder River, Powell, Prairie, Ravalli, Roosevelt, Rosebud, Sanders, Sheridan, Silverbow, Stillwater, Toole and Yellowstone.

In certain counties, you may have the option to vote by email. Contact your local election office to find out whether your county allows fax and email options.

Some United States electors return to their Montana residence too late to register at the time when, and place where, registration is required.  These electors are entitled to register for the purpose of voting at the next election after the date of their return up to noon on the day before the election, and to cast a vote in the election. They may also vote under the provisions of late registration.

For United States electors, a Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot sent by 8:00 p.m. election day is valid as long as it is received by the Monday after election day.

How to Update Your Mailing Address When You Return Home

If you have returned home from being stationed outside of your county of residence and have an outdated mailing address on file with the local election office, you will need to update your mailing address.  The quickest way to do this is to fill out a registration form and send it in to your local election office.  Just list your new mailing address on the form, and that way you won’t have to worry about ballots being sent to your old mailing address.  If you want to directly ensure that your county election administrator removes your name and old mailing address from the list of absent military or overseas voters who will automatically received absentee ballots, you can also send this optional request for cancellation of automatic out of county absentee ballot mailings to your local election office.

Definitions, Laws, and Rules

"United States Electors" is the term used in law for military and overseas electors.  To meet this definition, you must:

Be an absent uniformed services elector:
a member of the uniformed services on active duty or member of the merchant marine who, by reason of the active duty, is    absent from the place of residence where the member is other wise qualified to vote, or the spouses or dependents of these electors.

OR

Be an overseas elector:
a person who resides outside the United States and is qualified to vote or would otherwise be qualified to vote in the last place in which the person was domiciled before leaving the United States.

Applicable laws are under Title 13, Chapter 21, MCA.

Applicable rules include the following:

An individual must notify the county election official that the individual is a United States elector in order to come under the provisions of Title 13, Chapter 21, MCA;

There is no limit on the earliest date that a United States elector may request an absentee ballot;

In receiving absentee ballots, United States electors must be given priority to receive ballots as soon as they are available.

Sources of Information and Forms

The Office of the Secretary of State is the designated single state office for voting information for United States electors. 

Another source of information is the Federal Voting Assistance Program, which has forms and tips on registration and voting.  You can also reach the FVAP at 1-800-438-VOTE (8683).