All Americans that have the right to vote can vote, no matter if they live in New Jersey or Beijing. But if you do live overseas, the procedures can be a bit more complex, in large part because of America’s state-by-state system. Let’s take a look!
Voting Absentee
For the most part, you vote absentee. Just as if you were in the hospital, or away on business, on election day, following your state’s regulations you register to vote ahead of time, request an absentee ballot as the election draws near, and then mail it in with your choices. The process is very old-timey, however (see the word “mail” in that last sentence?) Despite it looking a lot like the 21st century out the window, voting absentee involves lots of mailing things back and forth. A few states will go as far forward in time as allowing a FAX (a FAX!) but don’t expect to vote over the Internet.
States all have their own methods for requesting that absentee ballot, but the one that works for all 50 begins at the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) website. The site is aimed primarily at the overseas military voter, but is applicable to any American abroad.
Old-Timey Voting
At the FVAP site, you use an online tool to create a new Federal Postcard Application (FPCA), basically a way to ask for a ballot. It is not a way to vote.
The FPCA really is an actual postcard, which needs to be signed and — you guessed it — mailed back to the county of your last stateside residence. If you are in the military and have access to the military postal system, no postage is needed. If you’re on your own in Bali, you need to use the right amount of international postage. Think on the bright side — until just a few years ago, you needed to use an official FPCA postcard, which itself you had to write away for, or pick up in person at the American embassy. Seriously.
After the postcard, your state, if it approves your request, then sends you a ballot. Everyone will snail mail you one, and some states will even FAX or email you one. The thing still needs to be submitted via whatever means the state allows, so keep some stamps handy.
You need to do all of the above every time, for each election. Until about 2009, you could sign up once with your state, and they’d continue to send you absentee ballots abroad forever after. That handy feature was done away with by the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act. On the other hand, that same Act also eliminated notarization requirements for overseas ballots. Ever try to get a U.S.-standard notarization done in rural China?
One last thing. If your state ballot never arrives, perhaps a victim of the Pakistani postal system, you can use a Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot. Blanks can be downloaded. You write in your choice of candidates and send that off to your home state instead of a printed ballot. Same Pakistani postal system, however, so good luck.
Important Note: You absolutely cannot vote at the nearest American embassy or consulate. Never have been able to, at least in the past century or so. And yes, some other countries allow their citizens to vote that way from abroad, just not these United States.
The Global Presidential Primary
Most states that hold primaries allow absentee votes. However, if your state does caucuses instead (looking at you, Iowa) there is no absentee process, sorry.
One interesting exception applies to Democrats outside the U.S. only — the Global Presidential Primary. Republicans have no such thing at present.
If you are a Democrat living abroad, and choose not to vote in your home state (i.e., you can only vote once), you need to join (it’s free) the group Democrats Abroad. Then, until March 8, you can vote in-person at over 150 voting centers around the world. As you might imagine, these centers are predominantly located in western Europe, where American expats are clustered, and start to thin out the further afield you go. There are none, for example, on the entire African continent. The center in Hong Kong, interestingly, is located at the Tipping Point Brewing Company, which may help increase turnout, albeit as it decreases voter judgement.
And because Democrats Abroad does reside in the current century, you can also vote remotely. After joining, you download a ballot, fill it out, and return it via email, or, yes, FAX.
In the end, Democrats Abroad will send 21 delegates to the national convention in Philadelphia in July 2016, to select either Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders as the nominee. Both candidates are interested in global voters; Sanders has a page devoted to them, as does sort-of Clinton. There was even a Global Town Hall online videoconference held on February 21.
But wait, how can this only apply to Democrats?
Better ask the Republicans. Primaries, unlike the general election, are basically a party function, not one of government. So, the Democrats said yes to a global primary, and the Republicans said no. Sorry, Repubs, maybe next time…