Summary
The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) protects the rights of military personnel, their dependents, and overseas citizens to vote by absentee ballot. The Department of Defense (DOD) and others have reported that absentee voting, which relies primarily on mail, can be slow and may, in certain circumstances, serve to disenfranchise these voters. In 2004, Congress required DOD to develop an Internet-based absentee voting demonstration project and required the Election Assistance Commission--which reviews election procedures--to develop guidelines for DOD's project. In 2006, Congress required DOD to report, by May 15, 2007, on plans for expanding its use of electronic voting technologies and required GAO to assess efforts by (1) DOD to facilitate electronic absentee voting and (2) the Commission to develop Internet voting guidelines and DOD to develop an Internet-based demonstration project. GAO also assessed DOD's efforts to develop plans to expand its use of electronic voting technologies. GAO interviewed officials and reviewed and analyzed documents related to these efforts.
Since 2000, DOD has developed several initiatives to facilitate absentee voting by electronic means such as fax or e-mail; however, some of these initiatives exhibited weaknesses or had low participation rates that might hinder their effectiveness. For example, the 2003 Electronic Transmission Service's fax to e-mail conversion feature allows UOCAVA voters who do not have access to a fax machine to request ballots by e-mail and then converts the e-mails to faxes to send to local election officials. DOD officials told us, however, they have not performed, among other things, certification tests and thus are not in compliance with information security requirements. The 2004 Interim Voting Assistance System (IVAS)--which, DOD reported, enabled UOCAVA voters to request and receive ballots securely--cost $576,000, and 17 citizens received ballots through it. The 2006 Integrated Voting Alternative Site (also called IVAS)--which enabled voters to request ballots using one tool, by mail, fax, or unsecured e-mail--raised concerns, from Congress and others, that using unsecured e-mail could expose voters to identity theft if they transmit personal data. While this IVAS displayed a warning that voters had to read to proceed, it did not advise them to delete personal voting information from the computers they used. DOD spent $1.1 million, and at least eight voted ballots were linked to this 2006 IVAS. Both the 2004 and 2006 IVAS were each implemented just 2 months before an election. DOD also has a Web site with links to guidance on electronic transmission options, but some of this guidance was inconsistent and could be misleading. DOD officials acknowledged the discrepancies and addressed them during GAO's review. The Election Assistance Commission has not developed the Internet absentee voting guidelines for DOD's use, and thus DOD has not proceeded with its Internet-based absentee voting demonstration project. Commission officials told GAO that they had not developed the guidelines because they had been devoting constrained resources to other priorities, including challenges associated with electronic voting machines. Furthermore, they have not established--in conjunction with major stakeholders like DOD--tasks, milestones, and time frames for completing the guidelines. The absence of such guidelines has hindered DOD's development of its Internet-based demonstration project. To assist the Commission, however, DOD has shared information on the challenges it faced in implementing prior Internet projects--including security threats. GAO observed that DOD was developing, but had not yet completed, plans for expanding the future use of electronic voting technologies. Because electronic voting in federal elections involves numerous federal, state, and local-level stakeholders; emerging technology; and time to establish the initiatives, developing results-oriented plans that identify goals, time frames, and tasks--including addressing security issues--is key. Without such plans, DOD is not in a position to address congressional expectations to establish secure and private electronic and Internet-based voting initiatives.
Recommendations
Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director:
Team:
Phone:
Derek B. Stewart
Government Accountability Office: Defense Capabilities and Management
(202) 512-5559
Recommendations for Executive Action
Recommendation: To improve the security and accuracy of DOD's electronic and Internet initiatives, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to comply with the information security requirements in the DOD Certification and Accreditation Process guidance.
Agency Affected: Department of Defense
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To improve the security and accuracy of DOD's electronic and Internet initiatives, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to incorporate lessons learned into plans for future systems such as those we identified, including adding cautionary statements to future ballot request and receipt systems to warn UOCAVA voters to remove personal data from their computers.
Agency Affected: Department of Defense
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To improve the security and accuracy of DOD's electronic and Internet initiatives, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to institutionalize a process to review online UOCAVA guidance to ensure that DOD provides accurate and consistent information to UOCAVA voters.
Agency Affected: Department of Defense
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To improve the security and accuracy of DOD's electronic and Internet initiatives, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to create an integrated, comprehensive, long-term, results-oriented plan for future electronic voting programs that specifies, among other things, the goals to be achieved along with tasks including identifying safeguards for the security and privacy of all DOD's voting systems--both electronic and Internet. The plan should also specify milestones, time frames, and contingencies; synchronize them with planned development of the Commission's guidelines for Internet voting; and be developed in conjunction with major stakeholders--including state and local election officials, the Election Assistance Commission, overseas voting groups, and each of the armed services. The plan should also include initiatives that will be done well in advance of federal elections, to allow adequate time for training and dissemination of information on the options available to UOCAVA voters.
Agency Affected: Department of Defense
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To improve the Election Assistance Commission's efforts to comply with the direction from Congress to develop the Internet absentee voting guidelines, the Commission should determine, in conjunction with major stakeholders like DOD, whether the Commission's 2007 Internet voting study and any other Commission efforts related to Internet or electronic voting are applicable to DOD's plans for Internet-based voting, and incorporate them where appropriate.
Agency Affected: Election Assistance Commission
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To improve the Election Assistance Commission's efforts to comply with the direction from Congress to develop the Internet absentee voting guidelines, the Commission should develop and execute, in conjunction with major stakeholders--including state and local election officials and DOD--a results-oriented action plan that specifies, among other things, goals, tasks, milestones, time frames, and contingencies that appropriately address the risks found in the UOCAVA voting environment--especially risks related to security and privacy.
Agency Affected: Election Assistance Commission
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
