Overseas Voting

Published: May 2026

For most overseas Americans, the right to vote is their primary means of participating in the American democratic process. Voter turnout overseas has decreased in recent years: The Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) estimates that 11% of overseas Americans voted in 2024. The overseas vote is a crucial component of every American election, but turnout needs to be improved. AARO has estimated that 5.5 million Americans are living abroad; its analysis is regarded as the “Gold Standard” and cited frequently.

The Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act of 2009 represented great progress for overseas voters and other voting groups. It modernized the Uniformed and Overseas Citizen Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) voting methods and ensured greater reliability and security in the overseas voting process and vastly expanded the use of electronic voter information and ballot delivery.

We support the U.S. Vote Foundation and their Overseas Vote initiative in their call for continuing improvements and reform of the overseas and military voting process in their “U.S. Overseas Citizens and Military Voting Reform Agenda”:

• 45-day combined voter registration/ballot request/ballot form
• Standardized election dates and deadlines for federal elections
• Inform citizens of their voting rights overseas
• Provide better guidance on how to print ballots and envelopes
• "Permanent" overseas voter status option for long-term overseas voters
• Codify the right to vote in federal elections under the protection of UOCAVA for all children born to U.S. citizens abroad

Today, 12 states deny the right to vote in federal elections to Americans who do not satisfy states residency requirements. We consider this a violation of one’s constitutional right and advocate that these American citizens should have the right to vote in federal elections at the legal voting residence of their US citizen parent(s).

We consider it a moral obligation of the federal, and each state, government to facilitate absentee voting for overseas voters. Our goal is to ensure that all overseas Americans obtain an absentee ballot for federal and state elections.

We have worked since the 1970s first to obtain the right to vote for overseas citizens and then to ensure that absent military and overseas civilian voters enjoy an equal right and ability to vote. We all also support all current efforts for the adoption of UMOVA (the Uniform Military and Overseas Voter Act) at the state level. Together, we will continue to work with Congress and the Administration to find all appropriate and economically feasible ways to enhance the ability of absent uniformed service voters and overseas civilian Americans to register and vote absentee in U.S. federal elections.

Lawsuits, legislation and executive actions seek to impose documentary proof of citizenship and proof of residence, as well as to eliminate grace periods and voting rights for U.S. citizens born abroad. While some of these efforts have been blocked in court or have not yet passed both houses of Congress, others are in force and pose serious risks to overseas voters. AARO has documented these efforts in a White Paper. We are strongly opposed to these actions that would disenfranchise many overseas Americans.

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