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I am a dual citizen living in northern Europe. I am registered to vote in Los Angeles County, and have been voting regularly in non-local elections. I got a jury duty summons in the fall of last year, but my family didn't notify me until this month.

There is one section on the jury duty summons that says 'I am a resident of LA County y/n'. Saying no will get me out of jury duty, and any associated fines/warrants associated with replying late to the summons. But I'm concerned I won't be able to vote!

TLDR: Will saying I am not a resident of LA County on a jury duty summons mess with my voter registration?

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    Can you confirm (by adding the tag) that you are a US citizen.
    – StrongBad
    Feb 24, 2017 at 17:01
  • It could mess up renewing your driver's license, if you still have one.
    – mkennedy
    Feb 24, 2017 at 21:48
  • I do need to renew my driver's license when I go home next Xmas, but I guess I'll cross that bridge then, and I have a European license now...
    – lmrta
    Mar 1, 2017 at 14:41

1 Answer 1

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No, for federal elections, if you reside outside the US, you vote in the place where you last resided; it is not necessary to maintain residence there.

The Federal Voting Assistance Program has information at https://www.fvap.gov/citizen-voter.

The State Department also has a page on the topic, which discusses eligiblity:

Voting Eligibility

Almost all U.S. citizens 18 years or older who reside outside the United States are eligible to vote absentee for candidates for federal offices in U.S. primary and general elections. In addition, some states allow overseas citizens to vote for candidates for state and local offices, as well as for state and local referendums. For information regarding your specific state, visit the Federal Voting Assistance Program’s Voting Assistance Guide or the Overseas Vote Foundation website. The Overseas Vote Foundation is a non-partisan voter advocacy organization.

For voting purposes, your state of legal residence is generally the state wherein you resided immediately before leaving the United States, even if you no longer own or rent property or intend to return there in the future. Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia specifically allow U.S. citizens who have never resided in the United States to register where a parent would be eligible to vote. Direct your questions about eligibility to your local election officials.

(Source: https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/abroad/legal-matters/benefits/voting.html)

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  • Fantastic, thank you! That very clearly answers my question; the jury duty people wanted to know whether I intended to return, but this clearly states I can still vote even if I don't intend to move back. (I am not sure if I will move back, so answering I don't intent to move back now counts I guess)
    – lmrta
    Mar 1, 2017 at 14:40

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