Overseas Civilian Voter
If you are an overseas civilian voter and want to register to vote, please register
to vote and send your application to your County Election Official.
Absentee Ballot Applications
If you are an overseas civilian voter, and unable to attend your polling place in
person on Election Day, you may vote by absentee ballot. Absentee voters may obtain
an absentee ballot several ways:
- Fill out and print an absentee ballot application and mail it to your County Election
Official
- Request that the state e-mail an absentee ballot application to your e-mail account.
To do this, contact your County Election Official, visit the Voter Information Portal,
or visit the Deployed and Overseas Citizens tab on this website.
- Complete and send a Federal Post Card Application Form (Federal Form Number 76A),
distributed by the United States Department of Defense and send it to your County
Election Official to request an absentee ballot.
If you have questions regarding registering or voting in South Dakota as an overseas
citizen or if you would like the state to mail you a paper voter registration or
absentee ballot application, contact the Secretary of State’s Office at (605)773-3537
or elections@state.sd.us.
Absentee Ballots
An overseas civilian voter may receive an absentee ballot electronically. If you
want to receive your ballot in this manner, mark the e-mail preference in block
4 on your Federal Post Card Application Form (Federal Form Number 76A) or personally
contact your County Election Official by e-mail or phone. You will be notified by
e-mail when your ballot is available to download from www.sdsos.gov/deployed. If
you do not choose to receive an absentee ballot electronically, your ballot will
be mailed to you.
Overseas citizens voting by absentee ballot must have their ballots received at
their polling location prior to the polls closing. If an absentee ballot is delivered
to a polling place after the polls are closed, the absentee ballot will not be counted
or opened.
Special Write-In Absentee Ballots
Overseas civilian voters who are outside the United States on Election Day might
receive a special write-in absentee ballot. Election officials use write-in ballots
when they are required by law to provide absentee ballots to absentee voters, but
official absentee ballots have not yet been printed.
The special write-in ballot includes all of the offices and questions that will
appear on the official ballots for the election district, but not the names of the
candidates for the offices. Instead, elections officials will provide a separate
list of candidates who have filed to appear on the official ballot and who have
not withdrawn or had their names removed from the ballot by a court.
A special write-in absentee ballot returned to the County Election Official will
be handled and counted the same way as an absentee ballot cast on an official absentee
ballot.
Learn more about voting by absentee ballot.
Home on Election Day?
If you are home on Election Day and have not voted by absentee ballot, you may,
if registered, appear at your election district polling place and vote.
Federal Voting Assistance Program
If you will be out of the country and wish to vote, the Federal Voting Assistance
Program will guide you through the process at www.fvap.gov.