If you are eligible to vote in California, you can qualify as a "military or overseas voter" if you are absent from the county in which you are eligible to vote and you are:
- A member of the active or reserve components of the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard; a Merchant Marine; a member of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps; a member of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps of the United States; or a member on activated status of the National Guard or state militia;
- A spouse or dependent of a person described above; or
- A U.S. citizen living outside of the territorial limits of the U.S. or D.C.
- Be a citizen of the United States;
- Be at least 18 years of age on the day of the next election;
- Not be in prison for a felony;
- Not be deemed mentally incompetent by a court;
- Are you overseas indefinitely. We offer an online portal for U.S. military and voters living overseas to help you.
To register to vote, you must obtain and complete a Federal Post Card Application (FPCA). The FPCA can be accessed using our online military and overseas voter portal by calling the Orange County Registrar of Voters' Overseas Voter Specialist at 714-567-7560.
You must be registered to vote at least 15 days before any election, and to receive a Sample Ballot, you must be registered to vote 29 days before any election.
You must use your last residential address at which you lived in the U.S. You do not need to own the residence, live at that address, or have mail sent to that address.
It is acceptable to provide the nearest major cross streets to that address.
No. California does not require either to sign the form.
No. You do not need to re-register to vote each year. Your registration will remain active until you cancel it, unless you change your address, political party or name.
When a person changes their address; changes their political party; or has changed their name.
Yes, an ex-felon may register to vote and is eligible to vote in elections if he or she is not currently in prison for a felony conviction.
No. He/she must sign the voter registration affidavit in his/her own handwriting under penalty of perjury. He/she may fill out the voter registration affidavit and mail it from his/her location.
No. In general, a person is registered as long as he or she lives at the same address. The person will continue to receive election materials.
You will need to fill out a voter registration affidavit. You can use our online voter registration system (which still requires an original signature), or you can pick up an affidavit at the Orange County Registrar of Voters office, 1300 South Grand Avenue, Building C, Santa Ana or at any local post office, library and city hall; or you can receive one in the mail by calling the Orange County Registrar of Voters' Overseas Voter Specialist at 714-567-7560.
If you are in the military or overseas, the ballot will be mailed to you within 60 days before the election, but no later than 45 days before the election.
You may vote for all races on the ballot for which you are eligible to vote as if you live at your last known U.S. address.
You can receive your ballot by mail, email or fax.
Visit our military/abroad portal here. Visit our military/overseas portal here. You can download the ballot and all election materials needed to vote and return your ballot from our military and overseas voter portal.
All ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day. Read the vote-by-mail ballot instructions.