MILITARY AND OVERSEAS VOTERS

In 2009, Congress passed the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act to provide new procedures for absentee voting by the military and overseas citizens of our country. The Louisiana Legislature passed Act 624 (HB 1200, R.S. 2010) to implement the MOVE Act for Louisiana’s military and overseas voters. The law was amended by Act 195 (HB 524, R.S. 2011) to allow the following:

Register to Vote

• Register to vote or change your registration online.
• Print an Application to Register to Vote (PDF) and return by mail or fax to your parish registrar of voters.
   
• Email a request for a registration application to the registrar of voters of the parish where you last resided prior to military service or going overseas. Return by mail or fax to your parish registrar of voters.

Louisiana statutes require you to be registered 30 days prior to an election to be eligible to vote in that particular election. To check the status of your voter registration in Louisiana, log in to the Louisiana Voter Portal.

Request an Absentee Ballot by Mail, Fax or Electronically

• Registered voters may submit a request for an absentee ballot electronically by logging in to the Louisiana Voter Portal.
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  • Click the By Voter button;
  • click the Voting Information tab; and

  • click the Online Absentee Request hyperlink found in the first sentence of Frequently Asked Questions.

    Note: you must be logged in to the voter portal as the voter for whom the absentee ballot request is is intended to electronically submit a request for an absentee ballot. 

• Print an Application for Absentee Ballot for Military & Overseas Citizens only, complete and mail or fax to your parish registrar of voters.
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• You will be required to submit your email address if you choose to receive your ballot electronically. Louisiana's law provides for the protection from disclosure of your electronic mail address, along with your social security number, driver's license number, day and month of date of birth and mother's maiden name.
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• Military and overseas citizen's requests for absentee ballots must be received by the parish registrar of voters no later than 4:30 p.m. CST time one day prior to the scheduled election date.

Use the Federal Post Card Application to Register to Vote and Request an Absentee Ballot

• Complete the Lousiana FPCA Application online. You must have a valid Louisiana driver’s license number or Louisiana special ID card and an address in Louisiana where you last resided to submit electronically. If a Louisiana driver’s license number or Louisiana special ID card number has not been issued, you may complete the online form, print the form and send by mail to the parish registrar of voters.

• Use the Federal Voting Assistance Program website to complete the application and send by mail to the parish registrar of voters.
   

• To use the federal write-in absentee ballot, obtain a ballot from the Federal Voting Assistance Program website. Please be aware that you may only use this ballot for a federal general election as Louisiana does not allow for write-in candidates in state or local races.
  
• To track your request for an absentee ballot or the status of returned ballots: 
   
  • Absentee ballot requests for military and overseas citizens are valid from the date of receipt of the application through two federal general election cycles. To check the status of your absentee ballot request, log in to the Louisiana Voter Portal and click the Ballot Information tab. You may also track the status of your mailed ballot by using the Louisiana Voter Portal. 
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• Military Personnel: By 8 p.m. on election day
• U.S. citizens residing outside the U.S.: By 8 p.m. on election day
• All others: By 4:30 p.m. on the day before election day

The State of Louisiana's designated means of electronic communication as required by the MOVE Act is the Louisiana Secretary of State's website at www.GeauxVote.com.

Please visit our Frequently Asked Questions (PDF) for additional information specific to Military and Overseas Voters.