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1 [1] (September 4, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdbqo0001 and id is 1 raw text is: September 4,2020 Absentee Voting for Uniformed Services and Overseas Citizens: Roles and Process, In Brief Members of the military, their families, and overseas U.S. citizens face unique voting challenges. These can include delays in receiving or transmitting balloting materials; uncertainty about voter eligibility; and varying state, territorial, and localrequirements. This CRS In Focus provides congressional readers with an overview of the federal statute designed to aid these voters, and their typical registration and voting process. It does not contain legal analysis and is notintendedto provideguidance to individualvoters. 07,k-'ewoftC (Zun-eM ,t SSkatunt The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens AbsenteeVoting Act (UOCAVA; 52 U.S.C. § § 20301-20311) is the only federal statute devoted specifically to voting access for members of the military and other uniformed services, and other overs eas citizens. (Other federal elections and voting statutes not coveredin this CRS product also could have implications for these voters.) Congress enacted UOCAVA in 1986 and most recently substantially amended the statute in 2009, throughprovisions in the FY2010 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA; P.L. 111-84). The 2009 language(Title V, Subtitle Hofthe NDAA) was titled the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act. UOCAVA is designed tomake it easier for uniformed servicemembers and overseas citizens to register and vote in federal elections, provided that they are otherwise qualified to do so. Perhaps most notably, UOCAVA requires states and some otherjurisdictions (discussed below) to permit covered voters to register to vote absentee, and requires the federal government to expedite transmission of completed ballots. Highlights of currentfederalgovernment UOCAVA responsibilities include the following. * A 1988 executive order designates the Secretary of Defense to administer UOCAVA. Currently, daily responsibility for doing so rests with theFederal Voting Assistance Pro gram (FVAP) and that office's Director. FVAP administers military and civilian aspects of the statute. * UOCAVA requires theFVAP Director to coordinate with the U.S. Postal Service to developprocedures to expedite delivery ofdelivery ofcompletedballots in time for those ballots to be counted, provided that they are received for transmission at least seven days before the election. Referencing postal law (39 U.S.C. § 3406), UOCAVA requires balloting materials to be transmitted postage-free. Voters may be responsible for covering the cost of foreign postageor a commercial carrier, if applicable. * The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) may enforce compliance with UOCAVA through litigation. * FVAP prescribes theFederal Post Card Application (FPCA) and FederalWrite-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB), discussedbelow. * FVAP consults with and educates state, territorial, and local election officials about their obligations under the act, and provides information to covered voters. Highlights of current state government UOCAVA responsibilities include the following. Exemptions can apply in specific circumstances. * States lmustpermit UOCAVA voters to vote anduse absentee registration procedures in federal elections. * States must accept and process voter registration and absentee ballot applications, ifthe voter makes a valid request at least 30 days before the election. * States must transmit absentee ballots to UOCAVA voters no later than 45 days before a federal election, if the voter makes a valid request that is received at least 45 days before the election. * States must transmit absentee ballots per statelaw, if the voter makes a valid request less than 45 days before a federal election, and, ifpractical, at state dis cretion, in a mannerthat expedites thetransmission. * States mu s t establish procedures for transmitting ballots by mail and electronically, and must provide UOCAVA voters with an option to designate a preferred trans mis sion method. States mu s t send blank b allots electronically (or make themavailable online) at the voter's request. * Because UOCAVA voters may print election materials themselves, states may notreject otherwise validly completed Federal Write-In Absentee Ballots solely because they do not comport with a state's requirements for envelopes, paper weight, or notarization. UOCAVA covers two groups of citizens: one that is primarily members of the military and the other thatis primarily private citizens. The statute classifies these as (1) A A '2 k

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