Vote by Mail Unit
Phone: 530-886-5650
Toll-free: 1-800-824-8683
Email: [email protected]
This page covers the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) as it applies to Placer County’s military and overseas voters. For general information from the California Secretary of State, see the state’s Military & Overseas Voters page.
Table of Contents
- Important Election Dates
- Program Details
- Voting Options
- Returning Your Voted Ballot
- Additional Resources
Important Election Dates
45 to 60 days before Election Day — Ballot are issued to military and overseas voters. Voters who requested a ballot by email will receive their ballot within this timeframe.
15 days before Election Day — Last day to register to vote for this election.
7 days before Election Day — Last day to request a ballot sent in the mail. After this time, ballots can only be reissued by email. Contact the Elections Office to change your ballot delivery preference to email.
From 6 days before Election Day until 5 p.m. on the day before Election Day — Period in which registered military and overseas voters recalled to service may obtain a vote-by-mail ballot in person through the county in which they are registered or the county to which they have been recalled to service.
Program Details
Program History
Since 2002, the Placer County Elections Office has provided the Military and Overseas Voting Program to all eligible Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) voters. The purpose of this program is to simplify the process for eligible voters to receive, vote, and return their ballot without delay from anywhere in the world.
Eligibility Requirements
To qualify as a military or overseas voter, you must be a United States citizen, 18 years of age or older, absent from Placer County and meet at least one of the following criteria:
- A member of the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard or Space Force; Merchant Marines; a member of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps; a member of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps of the U.S.; or a member on activated status of the National Guard or state militia.
- Residing outside the U.S.
- A spouse or dependent of any of the above (must live out of county)
- A person born outside the U.S. who has not registered to vote in any other state and their parent/legal guardian was a Placer County resident when parent/legal guardian was last living in the U.S.
Program Benefits
- Remain registered to vote at your last Placer County residence address, regardless of where you currently reside.
- Receive your ballot up to 60 days before every election (compared to 29 days for local voters)
- Receive your ballot by mail, email or fax and return your voted ballot by mail or fax.
- Note: You may return your ballot by fax only if you are living outside the territorial limits of the United States or are called for military service within the United States on or after the seventh day before Election Day.
Updating Your Voter Record
Keep your voter record up to date to ensure you receive your ballot at the correct mailing or email address. The most important data to update for UOCAVA voters is:
- Military/overseas mailing address
- Email address
- Phone number
- Ballot delivery preference (email, mail, fax)
- Military/overseas program status (military domestic, military overseas, temporary overseas citizen, permanent overseas citizen)
Re-register online at the Secretary of State’s website. Alternatively, you can print, fill out and mail a Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) to the Placer County Elections Office at 3715 Atherton Rd Ste 2, Rocklin, CA 95765.
You may call or email the Placer County Elections Office to make updates to your mailing address, ballot delivery preference, email address, phone number, or to unenroll from the UOCAVA program. In your email, include your full name, date of birth and Placer County residence address so we can identify your record.
Voting Options
Ballot Delivery Preference
You have a choice in how the Elections Office will send you your ballot and other election materials: by email (recommended), by mail or by fax. Re-register to vote or contact our office to change your ballot delivery preference.
Note: Your ballot delivery preference defaults to mail if you have not selected one or if your email address or fax number does not work.
Ballot Packet (mail and fax delivery)
If you choose mail delivery, we will send you these items:
- Official Placer County ballot
- Oath of Voter form — For returning by fax if you reside overseas
- Placer County return envelope — For returning by mail
- Instructions for how to return your ballot
- Placer County Voter Information Guide
- California Voter Information Guide
Fax delivery will not include the envelope or voter information guides. Instead, you will receive a return envelope image to attach to an envelope you provide.
Remote Voting System (email delivery)
A computer, internet connection, printer and envelope are required to use this voting method
If you choose email delivery, you will get an access code at the email address you listed on your voter record. Use this access code and your birth date at the Official Placer County UOCAVA Website (ravbm.uocava.com/placer) to access your ballot. After accepting the Member Declaration, you will fill out the ballot in an offline web interface, review your choices, and download your ballot packet as a zip file.
If you cannot find the email, check your spam/junk folder and try searching for the subject “Official Placer County Ballot”. If you still cannot find the email, contact our office to get your access code.
The ballot packet zip file includes:
- Your voted ballot in pdf format — Use a pdf reader such as Adobe Acrobat Reader or a web browser such as Google Chrome to view and print the ballot.
- Oath of Voter form — For returning by fax if you reside overseas
- Return envelope image — For returning by mail; you must provide your own envelope and wrap this page around it
- Instructions for how to return your ballot
- Click here to read the Placer County Voter Information Guide online
- Click here to read the California Voter Information Guide online
Returning Your Voted Ballot
Mail, in-state drop-off, and fax are the only acceptable return methods. California does not allow voters to return ballots by email or online.
Ballot Return Instructions – Mail or In-State Drop Off
Vote your ballot and review your selections. If you received your ballot by email, make your selections, print your voted ballot and return envelope image from the ballot packet zip file that will automatically download.
- (Email delivery) Seal your voted ballot in a mailing envelope that you provide. Fold the return envelope image in half and attach it to the envelope so that all mailing information is easily visible. You may need to adjust the printing scale of the image to match the size of the envelope.
- (Mail delivery) Seal your voted ballot in the return envelope included with your voting materials.
- Sign and date the back of the envelope next to the red X. This must be a wet signature.
- Choose one of these return options:
- Mail your ballot. It must be postmarked on or before Election Day and received by the Elections Office no later than seven days after Election Day. Postage is free within the United States.
- Drop-off your ballot in California. Bring your ballot to any vote center, polling place, ballot drop box or ballot drop-off location in California no later than 8 p.m. on Election Day. Another person can drop off your ballot for you if they print and sign their name in the authorization section of the ballot envelope.
Send in your ballot by the recommended deadline before Election Day:
 |  |  |
| 39 days before on a ship at sea | 30 days before outside the U.S. | 11 days before stateside |
If you cannot make this deadline, consider faxing your ballot so it arrives in time to be counted. For more help, contact the Placer County Elections Office.
Ballot Return Instructions – Fax
To return your ballot by fax as a California voter, you must be living outside the territorial limits of the United States or called for military service within the United States on or after the seventh day before Election Day.
Vote your ballot and review your selections. If you received your ballot electronically and plan to use a fax machine, print your voted ballot and the oath of voter statement from the ballot packet zip file that will automatically download.
- Complete and sign the oath of voter statement. You must fax this form for the ballot to be counted.
- Fax your voted ballot and the completed oath of voter statement to the Elections Office. Our fax number is 530‑886‑5691. You may have to dial an international access code. If you do not have a fax machine, you can use a commercial e-fax service. If you choose to use the free fax service offered by the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP), do so as early as possible, as they cannot always forward your ballot in time.
- The Elections Office must receive your faxed ballot and oath of voter statement no later than 8 p.m. Pacific Time on Election Day, November 5, 2024.
Important: To speed up the processing of your returned ballot, we ask that you fax your ballot and completed oath of voter statement in the same transmission.
By returning your voted ballot by facsimile transmission, you waive your right to have your ballot kept secret. Nevertheless, as with any vote-by-mail voter, your signature, whether on the oath of voter form or your identification envelope, will be permanently separated from your voted ballot to maintain its secrecy at the outset of the tabulation process and thereafter.
Track your ballot and sign up to receive ballot status notifications at WheresMyBallot.sos.ca.gov.
Fallback Voting Method
If you are a military or overseas voter but have not received your ballot packet, you may vote using a Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB). The FWAB is a placeholder ballot and is counted in the event you are unable to vote and return your official Placer County ballot.
However, we recommend that you contact us so that we send you a replacement ballot by email. You can then fax or e-fax the ballot if there is not enough time to return your ballot by mail.
Additional Resources
If you have any questions regarding this process or have questions not addressed here, please contact our office directly at 530-886-5650 (toll-free 1-800-824-8683) or via email at [email protected]. We are here to help you. You may also contact the following:
- The Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) at www.fvap.gov. The FVAP’s website provides an overview of the FVAP as well as links to state government homepages and other sites with election information. The website is updated on a regular basis to provide the most current information and news for uniformed and overseas citizens. From here, you can view or download online forms such as the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA, SF 76) and Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB, SF 186).
- The Overseas Vote Foundation (OVF) at www.overseasvotefoundation.org. OVF’s website features a complete election official directory for all fifty states and United States territories, an overseas voter registration/absentee (vote-by-mail) ballot request wizard (RAVA) and a voter help desk.
- The Secretary of State (SOS) at www.sos.ca.gov. The SOS’s website provides online voter registration, general information about UOCAVA as well as information on upcoming elections, voting in California and ballot measures.