Voting Rights: Study finds not enough time to vote for many overseas military personnel
Many U.S. troops serving overseas are effectively excluded from voting because they are not given enough time to cast absentee ballots, according to a study released this week by the Pew Center on the States.
The study, "No Time to Vote: Challenges Facing America's Overseas Military Voters," found that one-third of all U.S. states do not provide enough time to vote for military personnel stationed overseas and as many as half of all states need to improve their absentee voting process to ensure that the votes of servicemen and women abroad will be counted, according. The study found that only one-third of the estimated one million ballots distributed to military and overseas voters in 2006 were actually cast or counted. Information on the 2008 general election is not yet available.
The report found that 16 states, plus the District of Columbia, do not provide enough time to vote for military personnel stationed overseas, sending out absentee ballots after the date necessary for military voters to meet all required deadlines. The states are Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
Facing South reported on the problems with military voting during the 2008 election in the case of Virginia. A federal judge ruled last month that the Virginia State Board of Elections violated federal law by allowing absentee ballots to be mailed to overseas military members too late for them to return them in time for their votes to count.
Although overall the South does pretty well, Alabama is the state with the slowest vote time in the nation; it takes 88 days to cast an overseas military vote. According to the report, Alabama requires three mailings: first, from a soldier requesting a ballot, again when the state sends it, and once more to send in the ballot.
Even though Alabama currently needs the longest time among states to send and receive ballots time, Facing South reported last month that Alabama Secretary of State Beth Chapman is pushing for a bill that would allow military personnel and others living overseas to cast ballots online, thus making voting much easier for overseas military personnel. Chapman was inspired by a military Internet voting pilot program used in Florida, which during the 2008 election allowed voters in three locations overseas to cast their votes via the web.
The Pew study recommends four policy options that would help improve the voting process for military overseas voters:
The study, "No Time to Vote: Challenges Facing America's Overseas Military Voters," found that one-third of all U.S. states do not provide enough time to vote for military personnel stationed overseas and as many as half of all states need to improve their absentee voting process to ensure that the votes of servicemen and women abroad will be counted, according. The study found that only one-third of the estimated one million ballots distributed to military and overseas voters in 2006 were actually cast or counted. Information on the 2008 general election is not yet available.
The report found that 16 states, plus the District of Columbia, do not provide enough time to vote for military personnel stationed overseas, sending out absentee ballots after the date necessary for military voters to meet all required deadlines. The states are Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
Facing South reported on the problems with military voting during the 2008 election in the case of Virginia. A federal judge ruled last month that the Virginia State Board of Elections violated federal law by allowing absentee ballots to be mailed to overseas military members too late for them to return them in time for their votes to count.
Although overall the South does pretty well, Alabama is the state with the slowest vote time in the nation; it takes 88 days to cast an overseas military vote. According to the report, Alabama requires three mailings: first, from a soldier requesting a ballot, again when the state sends it, and once more to send in the ballot.
Even though Alabama currently needs the longest time among states to send and receive ballots time, Facing South reported last month that Alabama Secretary of State Beth Chapman is pushing for a bill that would allow military personnel and others living overseas to cast ballots online, thus making voting much easier for overseas military personnel. Chapman was inspired by a military Internet voting pilot program used in Florida, which during the 2008 election allowed voters in three locations overseas to cast their votes via the web.
The Pew study recommends four policy options that would help improve the voting process for military overseas voters:
- Expanding the use of the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot, a back-up measure for military voters who do not receive their state ballots in time;
- Allowing election materials to be transmitted electronically;
- Ensuring a minimum of 45 days to allow ballots to travel between voters and election offices; and,
- Eliminating a requirement that military voters have their completed ballots notarized before returning them
