Flag

An official website of the United States government

Message for U.S. Citizens: Upcoming Special Elections in Texas and New Mexico
7 MINUTE READ
April 28, 2021

Submit your absentee ballot now in these special elections for federal office:

The following states have elections in the next 90 days:

May 1, 2021: Texas Special Election in U.S. Congressional District 6*

June 1, 2021: New Mexico Special Election in U.S. Congressional District 1**

*The State of Texas will conduct a special election on Saturday, May 1, 2021, to fill a vacancy for the 6th Congressional district, which includes parts of Ellis and Navarro counties and a portion of Tarrant County. The registration deadline was on April 1 and the ballot request deadline passed on April 20. Voters who already received their absentee ballot must return it by MAIL or FAX (fax only if located in a hostile fire zone) and postmark by 7PM, May 1, 2021. Detailed instructions and county contact information are available at fvap.gov/texas.

**The State of New Mexico will conduct a special election on Tuesday, June 1, 2021, to fill a vacancy for the 1st Congressional district, which includes all of Torrance and parts of Bernalillo, Sandoval, Santa Fe, and Valencia counties. Service members, eligible family members, and overseas citizens who are registering to vote for the first time can use the automated Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) completion tool available at fvap.gov/FPCA or use the fillable PDF version. Voters can send their completed and signed FPCA to their local election office by EMAIL, MAIL, or FAX. If mailed, FPCAs must be postmarked by May 5. If emailed or faxed, FPCAs must be received by May 5.

New Mexico voters already registered can use the FPCA to request their absentee ballot up until May 25. All ballots must be returned to the appropriate election office by EMAIL, MAIL, or FAX so that they are received by 7PM, June 1. Detailed instructions and county contact information are available at fvap.gov/new-mexico.

Voters from both states can verify the status of their voting materials by contacting their election office directly.

If voters do not receive their requested ballot in time to return it by the ballot return deadline, they can send the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB) as a backup ballot to their election office. If the voter’s official absentee ballot arrives after sending in the FWAB, he or she may complete and submit the official ballot, too. Only one ballot will be counted per voter.

FVAP offers an email-to-fax forwarding service for voters from states that do not allow email return of voted ballots. Voters who do not have access to a fax machine can email their completed ballot to fax@FVAP.gov and FVAP will forward the ballot as a fax to the appropriate election office.

The Department of Defense is required to send this email notification starting 90 days before each election for federal office. This information is current as of April 26, 2021. As updates occur, please check the election calendars and state pages at FVAP.gov for real time information.

###

If you would like more information on the Federal Voting Assistance Program, or need help with the absentee voting process, please go to FVAP.gov, call 703-588-1584 (toll free 1-800-438-VOTE or DSN 425-1584), or email (vote@fvap.gov).