1. Should I use the option to return my ballot electronically (that is, by email, online upload, or fax)?

If electronic ballot return is available to you, we highly recommend you use it! 

Two-thirds of the states plus DC (33 in total) allow some or all overseas voters to return their ballots electronically — that is, by email, online upload, or fax. This option is a huge boon to overseas voters who live in areas where the postal system is unreliable or non-existent, or who otherwise may not be able to meet the deadline for returning their ballots by postal mail. Also, it may actually be safer to send in your ballot electronically than by postal mail as you don't have to worry that it may get lost or delayed in transit.

Sending in your ballot electronically is simply a means of returning your ballot. A ballot that you printed out (if you received it electronically) and marked, you can now return as an email attachment, fax or online upload.  Also, you retain a copy of your marked ballot so there is a paper trail. There is no security concern that a ballot returned as an email attachment, fax or secure online upload will be changed from the voter's intention.

Returning your ballot electronically is different from "electronic voting," about which there has been widely reported security concerns. "Electronic voting,” where voters at in-person polling places submit their vote using a computer system that holds a large cache of votes, may be vulnerable to inaccuracies as well as the more remote risk of outside manipulation. If there's no paper receipt provided, the voter has no way to know that their vote was properly recorded and counted.

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