For Bexar County voters under UOCAVA
If you’re a Bexar County voter stationed, deployed, or living outside the U.S. — federal law guarantees you the right to vote. This page walks you through the FPCA, your ballot options, and the deadlines that keep your vote counted.
Who this page is for
Not sure if you qualify? UOCAVA (the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act) is a federal law that covers all of these groups. If one of the above applies to you, this page is for you.
UOCAVA voting boils down to three phases. The first one (filing the FPCA) is the critical one — skip it and none of the others matter.
File a Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) with Bexar County. One form handles both your registration and your ballot request — for every election this year.
Deadline: must arrive 11 days before Election Day, but file the first day you can.
How to file the FPCA →Bexar County will send you your ballot by mail or email, based on what you requested on the FPCA. Email is usually weeks faster.
Backup: if it doesn’t arrive, use the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB).
About the FWAB backup →Mail it back, drop it at a U.S. embassy or APO/FPO, or — if you’re in a combat zone — fax or email with an affidavit.
Texas deadlines: military ballots get until the 6th day after Election Day; civilian from abroad, the 5th.
See the deadline table →The Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) is the single form that registers you to vote and requests your absentee ballot for every federal, state, and local election in the current calendar year.
A guided wizard from the Federal Voting Assistance Program. Answer a few questions and it fills out a Texas-formatted FPCA you can print, sign, and send.
~10 minutes Start the Assistant →Texas’s official FPCA web portal generates a pre-filled PDF for Bexar County. Good if you already know your registration details.
~10 minutes Go to TX portal →Download the blank Standard Form 76 from FVAP and fill it in yourself. Useful if you have no reliable internet and need to print from a base office.
~15 minutes Download SF-76 →No matter which method you choose, your FPCA goes to the Bexar County Elections Department. The form must be signed (digital signature is fine on the FVAP PDF).
Email (recommended)
elections.mailballots@bexar.org
Attach the signed PDF. You’ll get a confirmation reply.
Fax
210-335-0371
Available 24/7. Keep your transmission confirmation.
Bexar County Elections
1103 S. Frio St., Suite 100
San Antonio, TX 78207
Slowest option — use only if email/fax aren’t available.
A few small things that save big headaches
Once your ballot arrives, mark it and return it using whichever method fits your situation. Your options depend on where you are and how much time you have.
Use the prepaid envelope if one is included, or address to Bexar County Elections (1103 S. Frio St., Suite 100, San Antonio, TX 78207). International mail — budget extra time.
Drop at any U.S. military postal facility. APO/FPO/DPO mail moves through the Military Postal Service and usually beats international post.
Most U.S. embassies and consulates accept completed ballots and send them through diplomatic pouch. Ask about their cutoff; many want ballots 2–3 weeks before Election Day.
If mail is impossible, Texas lets you fax or email your marked ballot with a signed affidavit waiving secrecy. Your Voting Assistance Officer (VAO) can help you transmit it.
Backup ballot
If your regular ballot hasn’t arrived and time is running out, the FWAB is your emergency backup. You can write in candidates for federal, state, and local races — Texas accepts the FWAB for all offices on the ballot.
If your regular ballot arrives later, you can still return it. The county will count the regular ballot and discard the FWAB.
Download the FWAB →Texas gives military and overseas voters extra time to return ballots, but the FPCA and FWAB have their own cutoffs. Here’s the full picture.
| Action | Deadline (relative) | Next election: May 26, 2026 runoff |
|---|---|---|
| File your FPCA | Received 11 days before Election Day | Friday, May 15, 2026 |
| County sends your ballot (by email or mail) | No later than 45 days before a federal election | On or before Saturday, April 11, 2026 |
| Military voter: ballot return | Postmarked by Election Day, received by 6th day after | Received by Monday, June 1, 2026 |
| Civilian overseas voter: ballot return | Postmarked by Election Day, received by 5th day after | Received by Sunday, May 31, 2026 |
| FWAB (emergency write-in) return | Same as your regular ballot | Same as above (based on your status) |
| Ballot cure (if rejected) | 6th day after Election Day | Monday, June 1, 2026 |
Three layers of support exist for UOCAVA voters — use any of them, any time.
Every military installation and most large embassies have a VAO. They are trained to walk you through the FPCA, fax transmissions, and combat-zone options. Ask your unit for your VAO’s name.
Find your VAO: through your command or installation Voter Assistance page.
The Federal Voting Assistance Program runs a round-the-clock phone, chat, and email line for UOCAVA voters worldwide. They can answer questions, troubleshoot faxes, and resend forms.
Phone: 1-800-438-VOTE (8683)
Email: vote@fvap.gov
Web: fvap.gov
Questions specific to Bexar County — your address on file, ballot tracking, cure notices — go to the county elections office directly.
Phone: 210-335-VOTE (8683)
Email: elections.mailballots@bexar.org
Hours: Mon–Fri, 8am–5pm CT
The questions we hear most often from Bexar County military and overseas voters.
Start with the FVAP Online Assistant. In about 10 minutes, it will generate a properly formatted FPCA for Bexar County, Texas. Sign it, email it to elections.mailballots@bexar.org, and you’re registered and requesting your ballot in one shot.
Yes. Your voting residence stays with your last Bexar County address, even if you no longer have a physical connection to it. List that as your residence on the FPCA and give your current overseas address as the mailing address for your ballot.
In Texas, yes — in federal races. If one of your parents was last registered in Bexar County, you can use their last Bexar County address and vote for federal offices (president, U.S. Senate, U.S. House). You cannot vote for Texas state or local offices this way.
You will need to provide documentation of your U.S. citizenship and the parent connection on your FPCA.
Yes. Texas treats each FPCA as valid only through December 31 of the calendar year in which it’s filed. If you want to keep receiving ballots, file a new FPCA every January. One FPCA in January covers the primary, runoff, general, and any special election in that year.
Use the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB). You can download it from fvap.gov, write in candidates (by name or party), and return it the same way you would your regular ballot. If your regular ballot arrives later and you send it too, Texas will count the regular ballot and discard the FWAB.
Only in limited cases. Texas allows fax or email return if you are serving in a hostile fire / imminent danger area, deployed to a location where mail isn’t possible, or otherwise in the combat-zone category. You must include a signed affidavit waiving the secrecy of your ballot. Your Voting Assistance Officer can help with this.
If you’re a routine overseas civilian voter (not in a combat zone), you must return your marked ballot by mail or in person (e.g., through a U.S. embassy).
It means the envelope needs an official dated postmark showing it entered the mail stream by the end of Election Day, Bexar County time. If you use a U.S. military postal facility (APO/FPO/DPO), get the clerk to stamp it at the counter — drop-box mail can slip past the postmark step. Then Texas gives it 5–6 extra days to arrive and still be counted.
Use the Bexar County Mail Ballot Tracker. It updates through each stage: received, reviewed, accepted, counted. If it shows “rejected,” you have until the 6th day after Election Day to cure — the county will email or call you with instructions.
