Federal Voting Assistance Program

The programme publishes the two federal forms that overseas and military voters fall back on: the Federal Post Card Application, used to register and request a ballot, and the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot, a backup when a state ballot fails to arrive. Its late-August 2026 revision removed an option offered since 2013 to citizens WHO have never lived in the US. Deputy Under Secretary Sean O'Keefe argued the old wording could confuse voters about what federal law requires them to state, and the Pentagon says states may still process older versions.

FVAP administers the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of 1986 on behalf of the Secretary of Defense. That law obliges states to send ballots 45 days before an election, and the hardship waiver created by the 2009 MOVE Act runs through the Defense Secretary. South Carolina's Senate vacancy in July 2026 arrived after its 27 June mailing date had passed; the state settled with the Justice Department rather than seek that waiver.

The wording on FVAP's forms decides WHO can register from abroad without a fight. NPR counts Republican suits against never-resident voting as won in North Carolina, lost twice in Michigan and pending in Arizona and at least five other states; the form change delivers part of what they seek with no court involved.