If you're an American citizen who was born overseas and has never resided in the U.S., whether or not you can vote in U.S. elections is determined by state law. You can visit the Federal Voting Assistance Program website for a full list of state-specific information.
Review the laws in your state before submitting a Voter Registration/Ballot Request form, in case exceptions apply. Some states are silent on the issue of whether U.S. citizens born overseas can vote in U.S. elections, but no state specifically forbids it. So even if your state is not on the list on the Federal Voting Assistance Program website, we encourage you to try to register.
You can do this by using the Voter Registration/Ballot Request form on our website.
Your voting address in the United States will be the last U.S. residence of your U.S. citizen parent. U.S. voting is very local, so the ultimate decision regarding whether you can register to vote rests with your local election officials in the voting jurisdiction of your U.S. citizen parent.
After you've completed the online process, you'll need to download the form, print it, sign it, and mail it to your local election official in the U.S. Once it's had enough time to get there, you can verify whether or not your registration was accepted by contacting your election official. To find their contact information, go to our Election Official Directory, choose your state and voting region, and click "submit." On the following page click on the tab labeled “Election Official Contact Details."
Please remember to save a copy of all registration documents for your records. If you run into problems when trying to register, don't hesitate to contact us by submitting a question to our Voter Help Desk. We're happy to help!