MOVE Act Email Ballot Instructions
Dear FPCA Voter:
Per your request and in accordance with the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act, this correspondence includes your unmarked ballot for the upcoming election. This email also includes instructions for marking the ballot, instructions for processing the ballot, and a list of certified write-in candidates, if applicable.
If, after reading the instructions, you have questions regarding the completion or return mailing of this ballot, please contact your early voting clerk at [insert county telephone number] or by email at [insert county email address].
Note: Your marked ballot must be received in our office by regular mail on or before 7:00 p.m. on Election Day unless you will be submitting your ballot from outside the United States. If you are submitting your ballot from outside the United States, the ballot must be placed in delivery by Election Day and received by the county elections office no later than the 5th day after Election Day. If your ballot is not received by the applicable deadline, it will be rejected and will not be counted for this election.
Instructions for Processing the Emailed Ballot
- Open the attachment designated as the unmarked ballot, or click on the link in your email to access your ballot.
- Follow the ballot instructions provided for marking your ballot.
- Place the marked ballot in a secrecy (or security) envelope. An envelope may have been provided, or you may use any envelope you have at your disposal. If you cannot provide a secrecy envelope at all, don’t worry, the lack of a secrecy envelope will not invalidate your ballot.
- If a signature sheet (PDF) attachment was included with the ballot, print out and complete the signature sheet. Otherwise, you will have to print out and complete either the: (1) signature sheet (PDF) attachment; or (2) carrier envelope (PDF) attachment. (Note that the county also may have included the carrier envelope as an attachment with your emailed unmarked ballot.) Either the signature sheet or carrier envelope is required. The carrier envelope must be signed over the flap where indicated. If your ballot is not inside a signed carrier envelope, or does not include a completed signature sheet, it cannot be counted. Note that the carrier envelope is “postage-free” if mailed within the U.S. postal system, including APO and FPO addresses and U.S. Embassies and Consulates for use by absentee voters covered under the UOCAVA.
- NOTE: If for whatever reason you cannot print the information on an envelope, you may print the carrier envelope information on an 8 1/2 X 11-sized piece of paper and wrap it around the sealed secrecy envelope; make sure to sign on the “signature of voter” line. Put the secrecy envelope containing your voted ballot with the carrier envelope information wrapped around it inside another envelope, which you will address to the early voting clerk of your county and to which you will affix the appropriate postage.
- Put your name and current mailing address in the upper left hand corner of the carrier envelope, if it has not already been pre-printed by our office. Also, put the county address in the middle of the envelope (if not already provided for you).
- Mail marked ballot to our county elections office: [county official, please insert your mailing address here for affixing to the federal envelope, if used]
Instructions for Marking the Emailed Ballot
- Make sure you follow the instructions provided by our office for marking the ballot and for voting for write-in candidates, if any.
Federal Write-In Ballot Process
- If you have submitted an FPCA by the state application deadline of the 11th day before election day AND you do not feel you can return your ballot by the deadline, you are entitled to use a "FWAB" -- a "Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot" -- to vote in federal elections only.
- The Federal Voting Assistance Program provides a Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB) wizard. According to FVAP, this wizard will seamlessly, intuitively, and easily guide a military or overseas voter through the State specific requirements for completing the FWAB, including providing the voter all federal candidate choices. Here is a link to their website: http://www.fvap.gov/.
Last updated: September 18, 2019
