As an overseas or military voter, your participation in federal elections is your right, and it is codified in federal law. With the 2024 election year, we want you to have a great voting experience. You have special online features and benefits available to you that make it easier to register, request your ballot and get your ballot back in time to be counted.
Equally important to your right to vote as an absentee voter is your vigilance to safeguard your privacy and security when accessing voting services online. While many websites offer services for voters abroad, not all of them are legitimate or safe, and not all of them are as "nonpartisan" as they may claim. Some try to harvest your personal information and mislead you away from trustworthy resources. This blog will guide you on how to protect yourself and your vote.
Watch Out for Fake and Substandard Voting Websites
Unfortunately, there are websites that look and sound official, but are actually targeting overseas and military voters and that do not adhere to basic security standards. What to look for:
GDPR compliance
GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is your number one concern. Always check for it. GDPR ensures your personal data is handled responsibly. It provides a legal framework for personal data protection inside and beyond the European Union. It is vital that any website you use for overseas or military voting purposes is upfront about their adherence to GDPR guidelines.
If a website is not upfront about its privacy practices or does not promise GDPR-level protection, you should avoid it. Non-GDPR compliant websites can collect your personal data, without guarantee that it will not be distributed or sold to third parties. Check the websites' Privacy and Terms sections to confirm GDPR compliance.
Similar or Confusing URLs
Some of these sites use URLs that look similar to long-established, trusted websites, such as U.S. Vote Foundation at https://www.usvotefoundation.org and Overseas Vote Foundation at https://www.overseasvotefoundation.org. Their intent is to divert you and other voters from our secure, comprehensive services to substandard sites for reasons outside of simply assisting voters in the current election. They might offer one main service, like filling out a form, but nothing much else. Or, it may look like it was all AI-generated, simple, pretty, but no real depth.
Poor Voter Support
New websites that are not upfront about who they are and their intent will not offer outstanding customer support as you will always find at the U.S. Vote Foundation Voter Help Desk. Instead of professional help, you are likely to be redirected another entity, or to receive subpar services.
Websites like these don’t help build overseas and military voter turnout. Instead, they’re simply shifting existing voters to their platforms for other, often unstated, purposes. It’s essential to recognize and avoid these sorts of websites to protect both your vote and your personal information.
Who Runs the Show?
If it's hard to figure out who's really behind the website and how many of them there - and if you can't really confirm who they are easily, that would give reason to suspect the website. Trust your instincts. Total transparency is important. If you are unsure, you can go beyond the website to look up and organization in FEC filings or other who's who sorts of databases.
Trusted Resources: U.S. Vote Foundation and Overseas Vote Foundation
For secure and reliable voter services, you can trust the U.S. Vote Foundation and Overseas Vote Foundation. Both have been established for over 20 years and offer a full range of resources for overseas and military voters. Our primary mission is to support voter enfranchisement, not data collection or exploitation. When in doubt, stick our known and proven websites.
Key Security and Privacy Precautions
Here are some essential tips to protect your online privacy and ensure you’re accessing legitimate voting resources:
- Look for the padlock icon in your browser: This symbol indicates the website is using SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) security. It’s a basic yet crucial layer of encryption that protects your data when you submit information online.
- Avoid phishing emails: Never respond to unsolicited emails asking for your personal information, especially ones that ask for sensitive details like passwords or Social Security numbers. Always verify the legitimacy of the email by checking the sender's address and contacting the organization directly.
- Ignore unexpected password reset emails: If you receive an email about resetting your password and you didn’t request it, don’t click on any links. This could be a phishing attempt. Instead, log in to your account directly from the official website to check if anything has changed.
- Verify GDPR compliance: We are repeating this because of its importance: only use websites that clearly state they comply with GDPR or similar data privacy laws. If a website doesn’t mention how it protects your data, it’s best to avoid it.
- Use strong, unique passwords: Always use a mix of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols for your passwords. Avoid reusing passwords across multiple sites. Consider using a password manager to keep your accounts secure.
- Stay informed about trusted URLs: Always double-check the URL to ensure you’re on the correct, trusted site. For overseas and military voters, the websites to trust are:
- U.S. Vote Foundation - https://www.usvotefoundation.org
- Overseas Vote Foundation - https://www.overseasvotefoundation.org
With just this bit of awareness and knowledge of what to be on the alert for, you can protect your vote and personal information. Unfortunately, some groups are spending more effort diverting voters than helping them, and their substandard services only dilute voter turnout and trust. Don’t let yourself be distracted by these websites — your vote is too important.
Remember: for safe, secure, and professional overseas and military voting services, U.S. Vote Foundation and Overseas Vote Foundation are your go-to resources.
With these simple privacy practices, you can protect your personal data and ensure your vote counts without compromising your personal information.