Australia In Australia the term "absentee ballot" refers specifically to the procedure used when a voter attends a voting place which is not in the electoral district in which they are registered to vote. Instead of marking the ballot paper and putting it in the ballot box, the voter's ballot paper is placed in an envelope and then it is sent by the voting official to the voter's home district to be counted there. Postal voting and early voting are separate procedures also available to voters who would not be in their registered electoral districts on a voting day. At the
2016 Australian federal election, there were 1.2 million postal votes cast, amounting to 8.5 percent of total votes. Postal voting in Australia was introduced for
federal elections in 1902, and first used at the
1903 election. It was abolished by the
Fisher government in 1910, following claims that it was open to abuse and biased towards rural voters. The
Cook government's bill to restore postal voting was one of the "triggers" for the
double dissolution prior to the
1914 election. Postal voting was eventually restored by the
Hughes government in 1918 and has not been challenged since, although the provisions and requirements have been amended on a number of occasions. Prior to
Federation in 1901,
Western Australia introduced a form of postal voting in 1877 with strict eligibility criteria.
South Australia introduced postal voting for seamen in 1890, and a further act in 1896 gave postal votes to any elector who would be more than from home on election day, as well as for any woman unable to travel "by reason of her health".
Victoria passed a similar law in 1899, and the first federal postal voting legislation was also modelled on the 1896 South Australian act. Eligible voters may make a postal vote application (PVA) prior to each election, or apply for status as a "general postal voter" and receive a postal ballot automatically. Postal voters receive their ballot(s) and a prepaid envelope containing their name and address, as well as a predetermined security question from the PVA. Voters are required to sign the envelope and provide the correct answer to the security question. They are also required to have a witness sign and date the envelope. As of 2016, postal votes were able to be received and entered into the count up to 13 days after election day. Following the 2016 election, it was observed that the strict scrutiny process afforded to postal votes was a "significant contributor" to delays in declaring the results of close elections.
Bangladesh In the
2026 general election and
referendum, the
interim government allowed the
expatriates to vote via
Postal voting for the first time in its history.
Canada The ability to vote when in-person voting is not possible was first introduced with the federal
Military Voters Act in 1917, giving all Canadian soldiers and their spouses the right to vote. Public servants became eligible in 1970. The right was further extended to civilian support personnel on Canadian Forces bases in the 1977. In 1993, Bill C-114 extended the special ballot vote (Special Voting Rules) by mail to all Canadian citizens. Use of special voting rules including vote by mail has grown with each election. In the 42nd general election (2015), the number of voters increased by 117 percent over the previous election to roughly 619,000. This number grew to roughly 660,000 in the 43rd election (2019) representing 3.6 percent of electors.
Czech Republic In the
Czech Republic voters have several options to cast their vote in absence. Since 2003, it has been possible to use a voter card
(cz. voličský průkaz) to vote at different polling station. Voter cards can be used in all elections except for municipal elections. In the case of Presidential elections and elections to the
Chamber of Deputies, electors with voter card can cast their ballots in person at any open polling station within or outside of Czech borders, even outside their assigned district. For
elections to the European parliament, voting is possible at any polling station within the country. In case of regional elections and elections to the
Senate, it is possible only within their assigned electoral district. It is available to all voters living or stationed abroad. It can be used in elections to the Chamber of Deputies, Presidential elections and elections to the European Parliament. If electors cannot attend the polling station due to health limitations, they can request portable ballot box. Two members of the electoral committee then take the portable box and allow the voter to vote from their home or a medical facility.
Estonia Since 2005,
Estonia has allowed voters to cast votes via the Internet (encrypted to protect voter anonymity); 2% of Estonians cast ballots via the Internet initially, and 44% did so in 2019. The
Estonian Internet-voting system uses the
Estonian national identity card, which is associated with a PINs unique to each voter: "all Estonians are issued a government ID with a scannable chip and a PIN number that gives them a unique online identity — they can use this identity to file their taxes or pay library fines or buy bus passes." The security of the Estonian I-voting system remains a matter of political
debate.
Finland Finland introduced vote by post in 2019, but only for the eligible voters living permanently abroad or staying abroad at the time of the elections. Vote by post is not available for voters residing in Finland.
France France allows voting by "procuration", which is literally proxy voting. It has been said access to it has been eased in regard to the coronavirus pandemic. In the
2012 French legislative election, French citizens living abroad were permitted to cast votes electronically in the parliamentary elections (but not in the presidential election). In 2017, however, the system was dropped after the French
National Cybersecurity Agency assessed an "extremely high risk" of cyberattacks in the wake of
Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.
Germany Absentee voting has existed in Germany since 1957, originally in order to ensure that all German citizens, especially the old, sick, and disabled, and citizens living abroad, have the opportunity to participate in elections. At first, postal voters had to state why they could not cast their vote in person on Election Day; but this requirement has been dropped in 2008, allowing everyone to use postal voting. Like in many other countries, in more recent years, voting by mail has become increasingly popular among younger and non-disabled citizens residing within the country; as such, various tools are being developed to help citizens, both domestic and abroad, more easily apply for postal voting.
Hungary Hungarian citizens living abroad who do not have an official address in
Hungary are allowed to vote by mail. They are only allowed to vote for party lists, but not for local representatives. In the
last parliamentary election in 2018, 267,233 votes (4.6% of all votes) were submitted via mail. 48% of all valid postal votes were submitted from
Romania.
India Only certain categories of people are eligible to register as postal voters. The Representation of the People Act-1950 (RPA) section 20(8) allows postal ballots for people on polling duty; members of the armed forces and state police as well as their spouses; employees of the
Government of India who are officially posted abroad; and the President;, these are also called
service voters. Additionally, people in
preventive detention,
disabled and those above the age of 65 years old can use postal vote.
Prisoners can not vote at all. Postal voting in India is done only through the Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot Papers (ETPB) system of the
Election Commission of India, where ballot papers are distributed to the registered eligible voters and they return the votes by post. When the counting of votes commences, these postal votes are counted first before the counting of votes from the
electronic voting machines of all other voters. The
Communist Party of India (Marxist) has alleged that postal ballots "will adversely effect the verifiability of a large number of voters, thus, transparency and integrity of the process", and expressed concerns with "instances of manipulation and malpractice" with postal ballots. Section 20 of the RPA-1950 disqualified non-resident Indians (NRI) from getting their names registered in the electoral rolls. Consequently, it also prevented non-residents from voting. In August 2010, Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill-2010 which allows voting rights to NRI's was passed in both Lok Sabha with subsequent gazette notifications on Nov 24, 2010. With this NRI's could vote in Indian elections if
physically present at the time of voting. Civic society organizations have urged the government to amend the RPA act to allow NRI's and people on the move to cast their vote through absentee ballot system.
Indonesia Eligible Indonesians living abroad are able to vote by mail in national elections by registering at the Indonesian overseas election commission in their country of residence. Besides presidential elections, they are also able to vote in
DPR elections. All overseas Indonesian voters are included in the
Jakarta 2nd constituency, which also contains Central and South Jakarta.
Republic of Ireland In the
Republic of Ireland,
postal votes are used in
Seanad Éireann elections for the
university constituencies and the
vocational panels, both of which have restricted franchises. Otherwise, postal voting is only available in a restricted set of circumstances. The
Irish constitution requires a
secret ballot and the courts have interpreted this quite narrowly. Postal votes are available to people who by reason of their occupation cannot vote normally. They are also available to students living away from home, to people with disabilities, to prisoners (since January 2007), and to long-term residents of hospitals, nursing homes and other similar institutions.
Israel Israel does not have an absentee ballot system for all citizens. Absentee ballots are restricted to soldiers, prisoners, sailors, overseas diplomats, disabled persons and hospitalized people. The votes are not cast directly but placed in a double envelope with identifying information and counted directly by the elections committee only after verifying that the voter has not voted at his or her official polling station. Most absentee ballots are cast the day of the elections in alternate polling stations. Early voting is limited to civil servants overseas. There is no postal voting.
Italy Since 2001 Italian citizens living abroad have the right to vote by mail in all national elections and referendums being held in Italy (provided they had registered their residence abroad with their relevant consulate).
Kazakhstan In
Kazakhstan, citizens who are unable to cast their ballot at their registered polling station on election day may request an absentee-voter certificate, also known as an off-register certificate, from their original precinct election commission. Once issued, the certificate allows the voter to cast their ballot at another polling station, such as a location where they will be temporarily staying, at an embassy abroad, or at a special polling station in remote areas, hospitals, ships, or detention centers. The deadline for obtaining an absentee-voter certificate is usually 6:00 p.m. local time on the day before the election. He also said that in one particular constituency (Setiawangsa), he claimed that his
Parti Keadilan Rakyat had actually won during the
2008 elections, before 14,000 postal votes came in awarding the incumbent BN parliamentarian the seat with a majority of 8,000 votes. In Malaysia, only teachers, military personnel, and policemen based away from their constituencies are eligible to submit postal votes.
Mexico In Mexico, since the 2006 federal elections, postal voting for people living abroad has been permitted. A request can be made to the
National Electoral Institute which then sends the ballots outside the country.
Netherlands In the
Netherlands, liberalised proxy voting is available. Voters can authorise someone else to cast their ballot without having to go through a registration procedure. Voters can cast a maximum of 2 proxy votes along with their own ballot. Postal ballots and Internet voting are only available to Dutch citizens living abroad, or having occupational duties abroad on election day.
Electronic voting was banned in the Netherlands in 2007, and in 2017 Dutch authorities also abandoned electronic vote counting, conducting an all-paper, all-manual vote count in an effort to block foreign interference in its elections.
Philippines As provided by the
Overseas Absentee Voting Act, absentee voting in
Philippine elections is only available in certain circumstances, such as for
Overseas Filipino Workers or other migrants. Before 2025, votes had to be cast in person at select polling places, such as
consulate offices, or through
mail-in ballots in select countries. However,
internet voting was used for the first time during the
2025 general election in selected foreign posts. Local absentee voting as pursuant to Republic Act No. 7166 and Executive Order No. 157 is only available for members of the
Armed Forces of the Philippines,
Philippine National Police, and government personnel on duty on election day. The absentee voting in both overseas and local is still
manual vote counting system. Recently, absentee voting in
Hong Kong and
Singapore was done through the
optical scan voting due to
COMELEC Resolution No. 8806 in the
2010 general elections. Absentee voters can only vote for candidates elected by the entire electorate: the
President,
Vice President,
senators, and
party-list representatives.
Poland In
Poland, each citizen registered in the local voters' register, can get an ''absentee voter's certificate'' (AVC), which is a piece of paper with the person's details and the local government's stamp. The person can vote with AVC at every polling station countrywide and worldwide (in Polish embassies and consulates; the polling stations abroad are created by the Minister of Foreign Affairs before every elections). An AVC is issued only for
President of Poland elections, parliamentary elections and elections to the
European Parliament (in that case, the AVC can be got by Polish or EU citizen, so the EU citizen can vote for Polish deputies at polling station in Poland and Polish embassies or consulates, or for deputies from the country of origin. Although, if the EU citizen registers himself in the Polish voters' register, the local officials informs appropriate office in the country of origin). In case of
Senate by-elections, AVC may be issued only for voters living and registered in given
single-member constituency. Postal voting and proxy voting are also possible. Postal voting is possible both in country and abroad, but proxy voting is possible only in Poland. The proxy must be registered at the same local voters' register as a voter. The mail with the voter's ballot in postal voting is free of charge in Poland, but voter resides abroad must pay to send his ballot to the appropriate consulate.
Russia Absentee ballots have been reportedly used for
vote monitoring in Russia.
Slovakia Slovak voters have several options to cast their vote in absence. To vote at a different polling station within
Slovakia, it is possible to utilize a voter card (
sk.
Hlasovací preukaz). Voter cards can be used for elections to the National Council, Presidential elections and the elections to the European parliament. Postal voting was introduced in 2004. It is allowed for elections to the
National Council and for national referendums. If electors cannot attend the polling station due to health limitations, they can request portable ballot box and cast their vote from their home or medical facility.
Spain In Spain, for European, regional and municipal elections, voters who will be absent from their town on election day or are ill or disabled, may request a postal vote at a post office. The application must be submitted personally or through a representative in case of illness or disability certified by a medical certificate.
Switzerland Swiss federal law allows
postal voting in all federal elections and referendums, and all cantons also allow it for cantonal ballot issues. All voters receive their personal ballot by mail and may either cast it at a polling station or mail it back. As of 2019, approximately 90% of Swiss voters cast ballots using Remote Postal Voting. In Switzerland, starting in 2004, 15
cantons conducted electronic voting pilot programs. In three cantons, Swiss voters resident abroad voted electronically;
Geneva Canton,
Canton of Neuchâtel, and
Basel-Stadt. The programs were closed in June and July 2019, and the plan is for new designs to be available by 2023. In 2019 the Swiss government invited researchers to test the security of online voting, and in early March 2019 researchers found back doors which let insiders, and hackers who accessed management systems, change results without detection.
United Kingdom Absentee voting in the United Kingdom is allowed by proxy or post (known as
postal voting on demand) for any elector. Postal voting does not require a reason, apart from in
Northern Ireland, where postal voting is available only if it would be unreasonable to expect a voter to go to a polling station on polling day as a result of employment, disability or education restrictions. Proxy voting is allowed for people who will be away, working, or medically disabled. Anyone eligible to vote in the election may be a proxy for close relatives and two unrelated people. In May 2003, 35 local authorities trialled all-postal voting. The outcome of those pilots was a recommendation from the
UK Electoral Commission that all-postal voting should be adopted as the normal method of voting at local elections in the UK. This reflected the positive impact on voter turnout at these elections (in some places, turnout doubled) and the fact that there was no evidence of an increase in electoral fraud. A 2016 government review said about postal voting, that "Evidence was presented of pressure being put on vulnerable members of some ethnic minority communities, particularly women and young people, to vote according to the will of the elders... the possibilities of undue influence, theft of postal votes and tampering with them after completion were all still risks."
United States Voters may vote early or get a mailed ballot to mail back or take to a secure box or office. Most areas do not require a reason. Vote-by-mail has been implemented in both Republican and Democratic states,
Americans living outside the United States and members of the military and merchant marine even inside the country, and their families, may register and vote under the
Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA). Almost half the states require these ballots to be returned by mail. Other states allow mail along with some combination of
fax, or
email; four states allow a web portal. Security of mailed ballots is controlled by using special paper in some areas, There have been concerns that signatures are improperly rejected from young and minority voters at higher rates than others, with no or limited ability of voters to appeal the rejection. Processing large numbers of ballots and signature verifications accurately has numerous challenges other than fraud. In the 2016 US presidential election, approximately 33 million ballots were cast via mailed out ballots (about a quarter of all ballots cast). The number of people who voted early or with mail-in ballots set records in the 2020 election. This is because of the coronavirus pandemic and people choosing the option of absentee ballots. Only five states required a valid reason to vote by mail in 2020, compared with 19 states in 2016. Across states that did not require a reason to vote by mail, 44% of votes were cast by mail in 2020. Across states that did require a reason, 12% of votes were cast by mail in 2020, up from 8% in 2016.
Uruguay In Uruguay there is no mail in voting, online voting, or proxy voting. Every citizen is required by law to register as a voter at 18 years old, and is assigned a voter ID that contains a photo ("Credencial Cívica"). Each citizen is assigned a specific voting circuit that is close to his/her registered address. You cannot vote anywhere else, except if you are an election worker assigned to a different circuit than yours. To vote you need to go in person to the circuit and show election workers your physical voter ID. Else you need to remember the ID number. In both cases your data is compared with a copy of that ID in the circuit. If you do not even remember your ID, you can vote by fingerprint plus showing a national ID card. Every absentee ballot is manually controlled after election day to avoid the same voter casting more than one vote. The system is regarded as extremely difficult to tamper with, and accepted by all involved parties as safe and anonymous. ==See also==