The Short Answer for November 3
The 2026 general election is on Tuesday, November 3. If you are a US citizen living abroad, or a service member or military family member away from home, you may be able to fax your voted ballot instead of mailing it. According to the Federal Voting Assistance Program's 2026-2027 Voting Assistance Guide, 29 states and the District of Columbia accept a voted ballot by fax from at least some military and overseas voters. Twenty-one states do not.
Two things are different this year, and both matter if you are reading this in October:
- The free government fax relay is gone. For years, voters could email a ballot to FVAP and have it faxed to their election office. FVAP ended that service on August 1, 2025. This is the first general election without it, so a faxed ballot now has to go straight from you to your county or local election office.
- Mail is running out of road. FVAP's recommended mailing date for voters at overseas military installations is October 18, and for the most remote locations it was September 28. If your ballot is still on your desk after those dates, fax (where your state allows it) is how you make the deadline.
Disclaimer: This is general information about faxing voting materials, not legal or election advice. unofax is a fax service and does not run elections or decide who is eligible. The state rules below come from FVAP's state guides, marked current as of October 2025. Rules can change, and your county office has the final word, so confirm on FVAP.gov or with your election office before you send.
Who Is Allowed to Fax a Ballot
Fax return is not open to every absentee voter. It exists for voters covered by the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA): active-duty members of the uniformed services and the Merchant Marine, their eligible family members, and US citizens living outside the United States. If you are a regular absentee voter living in the US, your state almost certainly wants your ballot back by mail, drop box or in person.
If you are a UOCAVA voter, your state decides what you can send electronically. That is why the answer changes so much from one state to the next.
States That Accept a Faxed Ballot
These 21 states and DC let UOCAVA voters return a voted ballot by fax without a special condition on where you are. Times are local to your election office, not to you.
| State | Fax deadline for the general election | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Received by November 3 | Email and an online portal are also accepted. |
| Colorado | Sent by November 3 | The state also runs a secure upload site for ballot return. |
| Delaware | Received by 8 PM, November 3 | Email also accepted. |
| District of Columbia | Received by November 3 | Email also accepted. |
| Hawaii | Received by 7 PM, November 3 | Email also accepted. |
| Indiana | Received by 6 PM, November 3 | The email and fax deadline is listed for voters outside the US. |
| Kansas | Received by November 3 | Email also accepted. |
| Louisiana | Received by November 3 | Fax or mail only. |
| Maine | Received by 8 PM, November 3 | Email also accepted. |
| Massachusetts | Received by 8 PM ET, November 3 | Email also accepted. |
| Mississippi | Received by November 3 | Email also accepted. |
| Montana | Sent by 8 PM, November 3 | Must also be received by 5 PM the next day. |
| Nevada | Received by 7 PM, November 3 | Email and the state's online system also accepted. |
| New Jersey | November 3 | You must also mail the original ballot straight away. |
| New Mexico | Received by 7 PM, November 3 | Email also accepted. |
| North Carolina | Received by 7:30 PM ET, November 3 | Email and an online portal also accepted. |
| North Dakota | Received by November 3 | Email also accepted. |
| Oklahoma | Received by 7 PM CT, November 3 | Fax or mail only. |
| Oregon | November 3 | Extra forms are required when you fax or email. Get them from the state's My Vote site. |
| South Carolina | Received by 7 PM, November 3 | Email also accepted. |
| Washington | Received by 8 PM PT, November 3 | Email also accepted. |
| West Virginia | Received by 7:30 PM, November 3 | Email and an online portal also accepted. |
Where the guide gives a date without a time, treat close of polls in your county as the cutoff and aim to send well before it.
States That Accept a Fax Only in Certain Cases
Eight more states allow fax return, but only if you meet a condition. Read these carefully, because a ballot faxed outside the condition will not be counted.
| State | When you can fax your ballot | Fax deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska | Only if you asked to receive your ballot by fax or online delivery. | Received by 8 PM Alaska time, November 3 |
| California | Only if you are outside the United States, or were called to service within 7 days of the election. | Received by 8 PM, November 3 |
| Florida | Only if you are outside the United States. | Received by 7 PM, November 3 |
| Iowa | Only overseas uniformed service members in a hostile fire area. Everyone else returns by mail. | Received by 8 PM, November 3 |
| Missouri | Only if you are in a hostile fire area. | Received by 7 PM, November 3 |
| Nebraska | Only with prior approval from your local election office. | Received by 8 PM CT (7 PM MT), November 3 |
| Rhode Island | Only if you asked to receive your ballot by fax. | Ask the Board of Elections |
| Texas | Only if you are in a hostile fire area. | Ask your county early voting clerk |
States Where You Cannot Fax a Voted Ballot
In these 21 states the voted ballot has to travel another way: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Most of them require mail. A few offer something else instead of fax: Alabama has an online return option, Utah accepts email, and Michigan has an online portal for active-duty service members who are outside the US.
Fax can still save you time in these states. Most of them accept the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) by fax, which is the form that registers you and requests your ballot. Many will also send your blank ballot by email or fax so that only the return trip depends on the post. If you are in a mail-only state and have not posted your ballot yet, do it today and use the fastest service you can get. Overseas uniformed service members can ask a military post office for the free Label 11-DoD express service.
Ballot Has Not Arrived? Fax the FWAB
States had to send ballots to UOCAVA voters by September 19, which is 45 days before the election. If you requested yours and it still has not turned up, do not keep waiting. FVAP's own guidance is that from 30 days out, which was October 4, voters without a ballot should fill in the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB).
The FWAB is a backup ballot you can download from FVAP.gov, complete and send right away. In nearly every state that accepts a faxed ballot, the FWAB can be faxed under the same rules. If your regular ballot shows up later, you can still fill it in and return it. Your election office counts only one.
What Goes in the Fax
A faxed ballot is rejected far more often for a missing page than for arriving late. Your packet normally needs:
- The FVAP Transmission Cover Sheet. This is not just a courtesy page. It carries the secrecy waiver you sign to acknowledge that a faxed ballot cannot stay secret the way a sealed envelope does. FVAP's guides tell voters in fax states to sign it every time. You can add it inside the unofax send form and sign it on screen, or fill it in with our free generator, print it and sign by hand. Both are covered in the next section.
- Your signed voter declaration. Depending on your state this is called the oath, affirmation, voter's certificate or Voter Information page. No signature, no vote.
- Every page of the ballot. Both sides if it is printed double sided.
- Any state forms. Oregon, for example, asks for additional forms when you return by fax or email.
Use dark ink, check that nothing is cut off at the edges, and keep the pages in the order your instructions give.
The FVAP Cover Sheet, Built Into the Fax
The cover sheet is the page voters most often forget, so we put the official form in two places.
In the send form. On unofax.com, tick the cover sheet box and choose FVAP ballot. Type your election office and your own details, then sign the secrecy waiver with your finger, mouse or stylus. We fill in the unmodified form from FVAP.gov and fax it as page 1, ahead of the ballot you upload. The cover page is free and the page count is filled in for you.
As a free download. The cover sheet generator fills in the same form in your browser and gives you a PDF. Use this if your election office wants a handwritten signature: leave the signature box empty, print the sheet, sign it and scan it with the rest of your packet. Some offices only accept a signature made by hand, so check your instructions. If you would rather fill it in with a pen, download the blank FVAP Transmission Cover Sheet (PDF), the official form from FVAP.gov.
Half price until Election Day
Through November 3, 2026, a fax that carries the FVAP cover sheet is 50% off. There is no code to type. When the sheet is added in the send form, or the generator's PDF is uploaded as it was downloaded, the discount appears in the price box before you pay. At the usual 39 cents (AUD) a page, a 10-page ballot comes to A$1.95, which is under US$2. A sheet that was printed and scanned back in is an image, so it is not recognized and the fax is charged at the normal rate.
How to Fax Your Ballot Without the FVAP Relay
You do not need a fax machine or a US phone line. A browser is enough, and the whole thing takes a few minutes.
- Find your election office's fax number. Look it up in the FVAP directory or on your county's official website. Ballots go to your own county or local office, not to a state hotline.
- Make one PDF. Print, mark and sign your ballot pages and voter declaration, then scan them with your phone into a single PDF.
- Upload it at unofax.com. There is no account to create and no subscription.
- Add the cover sheet. Choose the FVAP ballot cover sheet in the form, fill it in and sign the waiver. If you signed a printed sheet by hand instead, put it at the front of your PDF and leave the cover sheet box unticked.
- Enter the fax number. Choose the United States as the destination and type the number exactly as the office publishes it.
- Preview every page. Make sure your signatures are visible before you pay. You are charged per page, and the rate is on the pricing page.
- Send, then save the confirmation. The delivery confirmation shows the time, the number and the page count. Keep it. Election offices rarely acknowledge a fax, so this is your proof that it arrived on time.
If the line is busy, unofax keeps retrying, and you are refunded if the fax cannot be delivered. On Election Day that is not much comfort, which is why sending early matters.
Do Not Leave It Until Election Night
Most fax deadlines are "received by" close of polls in your state's time zone. A 7 PM Eastern cutoff is midnight in London, 1 AM in Berlin and 9 AM the next morning in Tokyo. Work out the deadline in your own time zone and write it down.
County fax lines also get busy on November 3. Some small offices have a single line, and a 12-page ballot packet takes several minutes to go through. If your state allows fax, send in October and treat Election Day as a last resort, not a plan.
Once your fax is delivered, most states let you confirm receipt through a ballot tracking page or a quick email to your election office. It is worth the extra minute.
The Bottom Line
For the November 3, 2026 election, 29 states and DC will take a faxed ballot from at least some military and overseas voters, eight of them only in specific situations. FVAP no longer relays faxes for you, so the fax goes direct to your county. Check your state in the tables above, confirm it on FVAP.gov, sign the secrecy waiver and your voter declaration, and send before the last day. When you are ready, you can fax your ballot from your browser with unofax and keep the delivery confirmation as your record. For more on the forms themselves, see our guide to faxing a US ballot, FPCA or FWAB from overseas.