also called Federal Post Card Application · overseas voter registration form
The standard US form many overseas and military voters use to register and request ballots from their last state of residence.
The FPCA is the US form overseas and military voters use to register and ask for their ballots, tied to the last state you lived in. It is not a one-time thing you file and forget; a move or a new email address can mean you need to submit a fresh one. Skip it and the system may quietly keep sending ballots to an old address while you assume you are still signed up.
You changed your email and moved cities abroad since the last election but never resubmitted your FPCA. Ballot time comes and nothing reaches you, because the request is still pointing at contact details you no longer use.
Each move or email change can require a fresh FPCA. Without it, ballots keep going to an old address while you assume you are still on the roll.
The difference is the whole point, so here is each one in a line.
These are the pieces of casting a US vote while overseas.
The FPCA is the standard form many overseas and military voters use to register and request ballots from their last state, and an overseas absentee ballot is the ballot itself, sent to a citizen outside their district so they can vote without returning.
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