Every election, millions of U.S. citizens forgo their right to vote simply because theyre living abroad or are an active-duty military member. It remains to be seen whether the heated face-off between presidential nominees Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will encourage these people to exercise the right this year.

Almost 3.5 million individuals are eligible to vote under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, estimates the Federal Voting Assistance Program , the Defense Department organization that assists these voters. Yet states received only about 680,000 absentee ballots from overseas citizens and active-duty military members and their families in the 2012 elections, according to FVAP.

There are millions and millions of overseas voters who dont take advantage of the franchise, said Susan Dzieduszycka-Suinat, president and CEO of U.S. Vote Foundation, a nonpartisan nonprofit that assists domestic and overseas voters. They assume its hard. They assume they have to own property. They dont realize how easy it is now.