Hearing: Problems for Military and Overseas Voters: Why Many Soldiers and Their Families Can't Vote
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Executive Summary The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) safeguards the right to vote for federal offices by absent uniformed services members and their families, and overseas The absentee voting process for UOCAVA citizens requires the successful completion of three basic steps. Step 1: Register to vote and request an absentee ballot. Step 2: Local election official determines the citizen’s legal voting residence and provides a state absentee ballot. Step 3: Vote the ballot and return it to the local election official. Traditionally these steps have been accomplished by mail. Modern information technologies provide alternative methods to streamline the process to better support absentee voters. The Department continues to advocate for expanding use of technology through electronic transmission alternatives. Fax and email options for registering to vote, requesting an absentee ballot, receiving the absentee ballot, and returning the voted absentee ballot greatly reduce the amount of time needed to complete the absentee voting process, and gives UOCAVA voters additional alternatives when regular mail is slow or unreliable.
To prepare for upcoming elections, the FVAP staff members conduct voting assistance workshops. These workshops give Voting Assistance Officers the hands-on training they need to understand their mission and to perform their duties. To prepare for the 2008 election, the FVAP conducted a total of 193 workshops worldwide in addition to addressing election officials at conferences of national and international election official organizations.
Expediting ballots is a very important aspect of the absentee process. In 2004, 2006 and again in 2008, the FVAP, in conjunction with the U. S. Postal Service and Military Postal Service Agency, ensured that military absentee ballots were expedited. The U. S. Postal Service handled ballots using Express Mail procedures while those ballots were within its system. Additionally, FVAP redesigned its website to make it easier for UOCAVA citizens to register to vote and request a ballot via this website.
In July 2008, the FVAP launched the Voter Registration and Ballot Delivery (VRBD) system, continuing and improving on systems the Department provided in 2004 and 2006. This included an automated version of the Voter Registration/Ballot Request form that voters could print, sign, and submit to their local election officials, as well as receive their blank absentee ballot. FVAP is currently pursuing the next generation of electronic tools to include the online capability for completion of the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot in the event a state ballot is not received.
The Department continues to build on the successes and take lessons learned from past elections to minimize or remove barriers that make it difficult or impossible for UOCAVA voters to exercise their right to vote. The ongoing efforts of the Department, the U.S. and Military Postal Services, the Department of State, other federal agencies, state and local governments, and a variety of not-for-profit and non-governmental organizations are giving more voters a greater opportunity to participate in elections. Through these collective efforts to improve ballot transit time and promote and implement expanded electronic transmission alternatives, voters will continue to reap the benefits of these improvements in this and future elections.