1. Military and Overseas Voters
Texas Secretary of State Elections Division
2/19/2019
Military and Overseas Voters
Keith Ingram
33rd Annual Election Seminar
August 2015
2/19/2019
Texas Secretary of State Elections Division
Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

2. Military and Overseas Voters
Definitions
Presidential election year coming
Prompt delivery
Pilot program
Returned ballots
2/19/2019
Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

3. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division
Definitions
Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) – a form of applying for a ballot by mail, for use by military voters away from their home Texas County or by U.S. Civilians overseas, with added benefits, such as the ability to apply for and receive a ballot by .
Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot (FWAB) –a federal form voters may use to vote if they have filed an FPCA but have not yet received the official ballot – essentially, it is a back-up ballot.
2/19/2019
Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

4. Presidential Election Year
Military and overseas voter participation will increase.
Must be prepared to deal with volume of applications along with regular ABBMs because the volume of those will be higher as well.
2/19/2019
Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

5. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division
Prompt Delivery
It is essential that you meet the 45 day deadline.
It is essential that you timely enter information into the ballot tracker so the voter can keep track of the status.
It is essential that you report to me if you didn’t meet it.
Number of ballots that are late
Destination (domestic or overseas)
Plan and date for getting them out
2/19/2019
Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

6. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division
Pilot Program
SB 1115 gave SOS the ability to include other counties in the electronic return of marked ballots pilot program.
SOS is working to insure that the pilot program is successful and will make a report on progress to the Texas legislature before the 2017 session.
2/19/2019
Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

7. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division
Returned Ballots
Remember that overseas voters have until the fifth day after election day to return their ballots provided they were mailed on or before election day.
Election night results are unofficial. The canvassed vote totals including military and accepted provisional ballots are the official election numbers.
2/19/2019
Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

8. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division
Reminder
We all want to do our part to make sure that U.S. citizens around the world including those who serve in the armed forces have the opportunity to participate in our elections just like those living here do.
We have aids on VoteTexas.gov to assist the voters in returning their ballots
2/19/2019
Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

9. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division
2/19/2019
Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

10. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division
2/19/2019
Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

11. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division
2/19/2019
Texas Secretary of State Elections Division