Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Americans overseas can still have their say in who gets the keys to The White House. getty One concern many Americans have when making a move overseas is that they could lose their right to vote in presidential elections. Rest assured you do not.
All U.S. citizens aged over 18 have the right to vote in federal contests, even if they live abroad.
Indeed, in some cases, Americans who have never lived in the U.S. have the right to vote, though this varies according to individual state rules.
The reason for this is voting in the U.S. comes under the purview of states, not the federal government.
One important thing to note is that you do not need to return to the United States to cast your ballot. You just need to understand the process for absentee voting. Just as you would back home, when voting from outside the U.
S. you need to comply with the rules in your voting state. Your voting state will be the last place you lived in the U.
S. before moving overseas. The specific ballot you get will be determined by your former physical address.
It may seem strange but you use this address even if you no longer own the property, no longer have ties to the state, nor have any intention of returning. It doesn’t matter if you were never registered to vote when you lived there or even if your address in that state no longer exists as a residence, it’s still the one you use. Under federal law, states are required to provide voters with .