If you live permanently or long-term in the USA and are interested in voting at our diplomatic mission for the elections to the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic or in the direct election of the President of the Czech Republic:

Registration in the special electoral register maintained by the Czech Republic’s diplomatic mission abroad is carried out based on Section 6, paragraph 5 of Act No. /1995 Coll., on Elections to the Parliament of the Czech Republic. From January 1, 2025, this issue will be governed by Act No. 268/2024 Coll.

Czech citizens who reside long-term or permanently in the states of:

Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, California, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, as well as the unincorporated territories of the USA: American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands, can apply for registration in the special electoral register maintained by the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Los Angeles.

The request for registration in the special electoral register must be delivered or handed to the diplomatic mission no later than 40 days before the election day.

The special electoral register is permanent and is not intended solely for specific elections. Therefore, if you were previously registered in the special electoral register, you do not need to apply for registration again for subsequent elections.

Czech citizens residing in other states in the USA may apply for registration in the special electoral register (hereinafter referred to as the SER) at the appropriate Czech diplomatic mission (New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C.).

Honorary consulates do not maintain special electoral registers, and voting is not possible there. However, through the locally competent honorary consulate, you may request the verification of document copies (if the honorary consulate is authorized to carry out verification activities) and forward your request for registration in the special electoral register to the relevant diplomatic mission or consulate general.

According to Section 8, paragraph 2, letter f) of Act No. 634/2004 Coll., on Administrative Fees, actions for the exercise of voting rights are exempt from fees.

The request itself can be in one of two forms. Either the pre-prepared form (DOCX, 19 KB) can be used, or the request can be written in free form with the inclusion of the required details (first name, surname, date of birth, residence address within the consular district of the Consulate General of Los Angeles). In both cases, the request must include the applicant's contact details (phone number or email address).

The relevant diplomatic mission will carry out the registration in the special electoral register based on a written request from the voter, which is supported by the original or certified copy of documents confirming the applicant's:

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The request for registration on the voter list at the Consulate General of Los Angeles may be made through any of the following methods:

(1) Submitted in person at the Consulate General of Los Angeles during office hours or at the territorially competent honorary consulate; when submitting the request, a valid identity document (ID card, passport, or certificate of acquisition or granting of Czech citizenship not older than one year) must be presented; in exceptional cases, identity for the purpose of registration in the SER can be verified with a valid foreign official document with a photo and basic personal details, based on which identity and nationality can be verified in the population register;

(2) Delivered by mail to the address Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Los Angeles, 10990 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1100, Los Angeles, CA 90024, where the request must be signed by an official verified signature with a notation from the relevant Czech Honorary Consulate (based on presentation of a valid identity document) or another competent local verification authority, along with the applicant’s contact details (phone number or email address);

(3) Submitted through an authorized representative, who delivers the request through a representative (PDF, 109 KB) personally to our office during office hours and presents a power of attorney with a verified signature from the voter;

(4) By sending the request in the form of (a) a completed form or (b) a freely written request (in this case with all required details) through the data box to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Prague with the designation of the Consulate General of Los Angeles; this method does not require the official verified signature of the applicant; the request must include the applicant’s contact details (phone number or email address);

(5) From April 1, 2025, also through the Citizen Portal (using the electronic identification means issued as part of a qualified electronic identification system with at least a substantial level of assurance).

From January 1, 2025, it is no longer necessary to prove residence in the USA; a declaration by the voter, including their address on the request, will suffice. If a subsequent or concurrent request for postal voting is made, the address in the USA listed in the postal voting request will determine the mailing address for the voting materials.

If you are registered as a voter in the special electoral register maintained by the relevant diplomatic mission abroad in your place of residence, you will be able to exercise your voting rights in person at the voting station established at this diplomatic mission or by postal vote. Voting abroad is only possible in the presidential election and in the elections to the Chamber of Deputies. In the case of Senate elections, you can only vote in your voting district within the Czech Republic (voting in Senate elections abroad is not possible).

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Proof of Identity

The citizen proves their identity with a valid ID card, valid travel document, or other valid official document, including foreign documents, with a photograph and basic personal data (name, surname, date of birth) issued by the competent authority.

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Proof of Nationality

According to Section 41 of Act No. 186/2013 Coll., on Czech Citizenship, Czech nationality is proven:

a) with a Czech ID card,
b) with a Czech travel document (passport, service passport, or diplomatic passport, etc.),
c) with a certificate of Czech nationality not older than 1 year,
d) with a document on the acquisition or granting of Czech nationality not older than 1 year.

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Verification of Documents Submitted with the Application for Registration in the Special Electoral Register

Documents according to the previous paragraphs must be delivered or handed over to the diplomatic mission in the original or certified copy (for multi-page documents, a certified copy of the data pages containing information about the document holder, the document's validity, and the holder's photograph is sufficient). Verification can be done by any Czech diplomatic mission (including honorary consulates) or by local notaries. No apostille is required when verified by a local notary.

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Information on the Consequences of Registration in the Special Electoral Register Maintained by Czech Diplomatic Missions Abroad

A voter who has permanent residence in the Czech Republic and is registered in the special electoral register maintained by a diplomatic mission abroad based on their application will be automatically removed from the permanent voter list maintained by the municipal authority in the district where their permanent residence is located in the Czech Republic.

If this voter wishes to vote in the Czech Republic in the future, they must request the diplomatic mission to remove them from the special electoral register. The diplomatic mission will issue a confirmation of removal from the special electoral register, which the voter will then submit to the municipal authority in the district where they have their permanent residence in the Czech Republic.

A voter registered in the special electoral register at a diplomatic mission should, upon ending their stay abroad, promptly request the diplomatic mission to remove them from the special electoral register and issue a written confirmation of the removal.

If you permanently move to the Czech Republic and do not request a voter ID certificate from our embassy in time, nor request removal from our SER two days before the first day of the election, you will not be able to vote in the Czech Republic!

For detailed information, please visit the website of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic: https://www.mvcr.cz/volby/