Military and Overseas Voter Information
US citizens may qualify as an Arizona UOCAVA Voter if:
- You are a member of the uniformed services, or a dependent family member stationed outside the United States.
- US Armed Forces
- Merchant Marine
- Commissioned corps of the Public Health Service
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- You are a resident of Arizona currently living outside the United States temporarily or indefinitely.
- You qualified to register to vote, except for age, in Arizona immediately prior to your departure from Arizona.
- A US citizen who has never resided in the US is entitled to register to vote (as a Federal Only voter) in Arizona if their parent is also a United States citizen registered to vote in Arizona.
Download the form below or find a printed version worldwide at any US military installation, US embassy or consulate office, as well as from our office.
UOCAVA voters should use the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) to both register to vote and request a ballot. Federal law requires military and overseas voters to submit a new FPCA form every regularly scheduled federal election cycle (two years) to keep your active UOCAVA status. We recommend doing this every year, or whenever you move.
If you did not receive an absentee ballot in time to participate, you can receive an emergency backup ballot Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB) to participate in the election, right up to the end of Election Day.
What is a Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot?
The ballot is a paper ballot that lists no candidate or office. You simply write in the name of the candidates for House of Representatives, United States Senate or President or the political party affiliation of the candidate you wish to vote for. Then seal that ballot in the appropriate write-in ballot envelope and send it to our office. These ballots are often available earlier than 45 days prior to Election Day. In Arizona the write-in ballot may also be transmitted electronically by either fax or email.
The write-in ballot limits you to voting only for the federal candidates. It is the policy of the Pima County Recorder's Office to also send a regular ballot to all voters who have requested a Federal Write-In Absentee ballot,
to give you the opportunity to vote on state issues if you wish.
Your Write-In ballot will be held until 7:00 pm on Election Day to provide sufficient time for return of the regular ballot.
UOCAVA qualified voters may submit their registration and ballot request via the FPCA form through Election Day. Your ballot must be in the Recorder’s Office possession by 7 pm AZ time on Election Day to be counted. Under Arizona law, the postmark is not relevant to determining if a ballot is timely.
The same FPCA form is used in all 50 states and some of the information lines do not apply to all of the states. See AZ details below:
- In Arizona, you only need to provide the last four digits of your social security number
- Use your last address before going on active duty or moving out of the country.
- This is true even if someone else lives there now, the residence no longer exists, or you don’t intend to move back.
- Dependents of active military members should use their parent’s last address, even if you never lived there.
- If you never lived here, you can only register as a Federal-Only voter.
- In Arizona, you are not required to select a political party affiliation in order to register. Your party choice may affect your ability to participate in some elections
- Arizona requires proof of citizenship to vote in Arizona elections, but the Federal elections do not require this.
- If you are registering to vote for the first time in Pima County, you must provide evidence of your United States citizenship at the time you submit the FPCA form.
- If you do not provide proof of citizenship, you will be registered as a Federal Only voter and will only be eligible to vote for candidates for federal office (U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate and U.S. President). You will not be eligible to vote in any state or local matter.
Return your FPCA form to the Pima County Recorder’s office by mail, fax or by email.
Mailing address:
Pima County Recorder’s Office,
PO Box 3145, Tucson AZ 85702-3145
Fax: (520) 623-1785
Email: militaryoverseas@recorder.pima.gov (this email is for questions and forms, not ballots)
When will I receive my ballot?
We begin sending ballots on the 45th day prior to Election Day
Returning your UOCAVA Ballot
I received my ballot by mail. Can I return it by fax or email?Yes. You should make your decision based on what transmission methods you have available to you and how close it is to Election Day. Under Arizona law, all ballots must be received by the Recorder’s Office no later than 7 pm Arizona time on Election Day in order to be counted. If you do not have enough time to mail the ballot to the Recorder’s Office by regular mail so it arrives in Tucson by the deadline, you should consider fax or email choices for returning your ballot.
I have already mailed my voted ballot back, but I am not certain that it will arrive in Pima County by the 7 pm deadline. What should I do?If you have already mailed your ballot back but do not believe it will arrive in time to be valid, we recommend that you send your ballot electronically by either fax or email. Our system is set up so that only one ballot from each voter will be counted. So if you decide to send the ballot back by multiple transmission methods to be certain we receive it, the first one we receive will be the one counted. Due to the unreliable nature of some foreign postal systems, we do not consider this an attempt to vote twice.
How do I know if my electronically transmitted ballot was received?You can track the status of your ballot on our website. Please allow at least two business days for processing time from the date of electronic transmission before contacting our office.
You can also contact the Recorder’s Office by phone, fax or email to obtain confirmation of receipt of the ballot.
If you email your ballot, we will acknowledge receipt of your ballot after it has been reviewed and processed. If there is a problem with the transmission, you will be notified by email.
Fax machines have an internal log to indicate a successful transmission of a fax, so the Recorder’s Office does not send additional acknowledgment of receipt of faxed ballots. If there is a problem with the transmission, we will notify the voter by email, phone or by return fax, whichever is available.
How secure is the electronic transmission method?- The staff who examine the ballots on both the fax machines and the email process have been trained to review the ballots without looking at the boxes marked by the voter. This way we can protect the privacy of your ballot at the same time we make certain that the transmission is complete.
- The email address used for UOCAVA ballots is protected by two firewalls and is a limited access account.
- The Pima County Recorder’s Office has two fax machines located in a secured area in our office. The fax machines are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- The machines are checked at the beginning of each shift and at the end of each shift. In addition, during election cycles the machines are checked regularly during the day.
- When an emailed or fax ballot is received, the ballot is quickly reviewed to make certain the transmission is complete. It is then printed out and immediately sealed in an envelope and placed with all other ballots by mail in a secured location.
- The electronic version of the ballot is then deleted from our system.
When you return to Pima County
- You should register to vote in person at the Pima County Recorder’s Office and bring evidence of your return date or proof of your release from active duty with you.
- If your return is more than 90 days prior to Election Day, your registration deadline is midnight on the 29th day prior to Election Day.
- If your return is within the 90 days prior to Election Day, you may register to vote up to 5:00 pm on the Friday Election Day.
The Federal Voting Assistance Program provides information to all United States citizens who are military or overseas voters. That federal agency has developed a website with specific details for voters who are residents of all 50 states. You can review the Arizona rules as well as download an FPCA form from that site.
Additional information is also available from the elections officer at any United States military installation worldwide or at any United States embassy or consulate office.
