Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act

{{Infobox U.S. legislation

| shorttitle = Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act

| othershorttitles =

| longtitle = An Act to consolidate and improve provisions of law relating to absentee registration and voting in elections for Federal office by members of uniformed services and persons who reside overseas.

| colloquialacronym =

| nickname = Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of 1986

| enacted by = 99th

| effective date = August 28, 1986

| public law url = https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-100/pdf/STATUTE-100-Pg924.pdf

| cite public law = 99-410

| cite statutes at large = {{usstat|100|924}}

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| acts repealed =

| title amended = 42 U.S.C.: Public Health and Social Welfare transferred to 52 U.S.C.: Voting and Elections

| sections created = {{Usc-title-chap|42|20|I-G}} § 1973ff et seq. transferred to {{USC|52|20301|20311}}

| sections amended =

| leghisturl = http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d099:HR04393:@@@R

| introducedin = House

| introducedbill = {{USBill|99|H.R.|4393}}

| introducedby = Al Swift (D–WA)

| introduceddate = March 12, 1986

| committees = House Administration

| passedbody1 = House

| passeddate1 = August 12, 1986

| passedvote1 = Passed Voice Vote

| passedbody2 = Senate

| passedas2 =

| passeddate2 = August 16, 1986

| passedvote2 = Passed Voice Vote

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| signedpresident = Ronald Reagan

| signeddate = August 28, 1986

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The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), P.L. 99-410, {{usc|52|20301|20311}}, {{usc|39|3406}}, {{usc|18|608|609}}, is a United States federal law dealing with elections and voting rights for United States citizens residing overseas. The act requires that all U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands allow certain U.S. citizens to register to vote and to vote by absentee ballot in federal elections.{{Cite web

|url=http://www.fvap.gov/laws/uocavalaw.html

|title=Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (as modified by the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2005)

|publisher=U.S. Department of Justice; Civil Rights Division; Voting Section

|date=December 31, 1987

|access-date=2010-12-18

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080717085438/http://www.fvap.gov/laws/uocavalaw.html

|archive-date=2008-07-17

}} The act is Public Law 99-410 and was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on August 28, 1986.Coleman, Kevin J. [http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RS20764.pdf "Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act: Background and Issues."] Congressional Research Service, 2014.

Groups of people covered under the act are:

Members of the then-seven (now eight) Uniformed Services
Members of the U.S. Merchant Marine
Eligible family members of the above
U.S. citizens employed by the federal government residing outside the U.S.
Other private U.S. citizens residing outside the United States

The act provides for an emergency back-up ballot, the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB), which can be cast by voters who "have made a timely application for but have not received their regular ballot from the state or territory, subject to certain conditions." Postage is free for UOCAVA registrations and ballots, including FWAB.{{cite web|url=http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/703.htm#wp1114319|title=Section 703: Nonprofit Standard Mail and Other Unique Eligibility|publisher=United States Postal Service|work =Domestic Mail Manual}}

The act does not apply to non-federal elections, although most states also let citizens covered by the UOCAVA register and vote in state and local elections.[http://www.fvap.gov/vao/vag Federal Voting Assistance Program]{{Cite web |date=2024 |title=2024-25 Voting Assistance Guide |url=https://www.fvap.gov/uploads/FVAP/States/eVAG.pdf |website=FVAP}} Before 1986 there had been some access to voting from abroad, but it varied.{{Cite news |last=Rynerson |first=R. W. |date=November 1970 |title=U.S. Election Night – 1970 – Berlin 1969 |language=en-US |work=KLC Radio, Lewis & Clark College |url=http://www.berlin1969.com/stories-geschichte/u-s-election-night/ |access-date=2020-08-05}}

FVAP

The Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP), part of the Department of Defense, is the program that administers the UOCAVA as well as the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 on behalf of the Secretary of Defense. The FVAP states its goals as to "inform and educate U.S. citizens worldwide of their right to vote; facilitate voting participation; and protect the integrity of, and simultaneously enhance, the electoral process at the Federal, State and local levels."

Voting methods

File:UOCAVA2020.png

UOCAVA lets uniformed service members request absentee ballots as early as they wish in an election year.{{Cite web |title=52 USC 20306 |url=https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:52%20section:20306%20edition:prelim)%20OR%20(granuleid:USC-prelim-title52-section20306)&f=treesort&num=0&edition=prelim |access-date=2024-07-21 |website=uscode.house.gov}} Any time after that request they may send the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot from outside the US,{{Cite web |title=52 USC 20303(b)(2) |url=https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title52-chapter203&edition=prelim#20303_1_target |access-date=2024-07-21 |website=uscode.house.gov}} so they can vote even if they are on extended missions without communication, if they can send it from outside the US.

UOCAVA lets covered groups get ballots electronically (email, fax, or web site) from all states. Some states transmit ballots electronically to other groups.

Twenty states require ballots to be returned by mail.{{Cite web |title=Electronic Transmission of Ballots |url=https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/internet-voting.aspx#Table |access-date=2020-07-08 |website=www.ncsl.org}}

Four states allow ballot submission through secure web sites: AZ, CO (if needed), MO, and WV. In 2019-2020 researchers found insecurities in online voting systems used for UOCAVA from Voatz{{Cite news |last=Zetter |first=Kim |date=2020-02-13 |title='Sloppy' Mobile Voting App Used in Four States Has 'Elementary' Security Flaws |language=en |work=VICE |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/sloppy-mobile-voting-app-used-in-four-states-has-elementary-security-flaws/ |access-date=2020-06-23}}{{Cite web |last=Specter |first=Michael A., James Koppel, Daniel Weitzner |date=2020-02-12 |title=The Ballot is Busted Before the Blockchain: A Security Analysis of Voatz, the First Internet Voting Application Used in U.S. Federal Elections |url=https://internetpolicy.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/SecurityAnalysisOfVoatz_Public.pdf |access-date=2020-06-23 |website=Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}{{Cite news |last=Halper |first=Evan |date=2019-05-16 |title=The vote-by-phone tech trend is scaring the life out of security experts |language=en-US |work=San Diego Union Tribune |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/us-politics/la-na-pol-voting-by-phone-20190516-story.html |access-date=2020-06-23}} and Democracy Live.{{Cite web |last=Appel |first=Andrew |date=2020-06-08 |title=Democracy Live internet voting: unsurprisingly insecure, and surprisingly insecure |url=https://freedom-to-tinker.com/2020/06/08/democracy-live-internet-voting-unsurprisingly-insecure-and-surprisingly-insecure/ |access-date=2020-06-23 |website=Princeton University}}{{Cite news |last=Parks |first=Miles |date=2020-02-28 |title=States Expand Internet Voting Experiments Amid Pandemic, Raising Security Fears |language=en |work=National Public Radio |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/04/28/844581667/states-expand-internet-voting-experiments-amid-pandemic-raising-security-fears |access-date=2020-06-23}}

The four states allowing online voting and the remaining 27 states have a mix of rules allowing email or fax to return ballots: AK, CA, DE, DC, FL, HI, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MA, MS, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NC, MD, OK, OR, RI, SC, TX (for danger, combat zones or space),{{cite news|title=Astronauts beam votes home|url=http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/02/astronauts-beam-votes-home/|newspaper=CNN|date=2 November 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303184642/http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/02/astronauts-beam-votes-home/|archive-date=3 March 2016}}{{cite news|last=James |first=Kate |title=Astronauts Cast Vote From Space Thanks to 1997 Texas Law |url=http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978657286 |access-date=2 November 2010 |newspaper=Gather.com |date=2 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511035033/http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978657286 |archive-date=11 May 2011 }} UT, and WA.

Maine and Rhode Island tabulate all votes cast in elections based on rules set out by UOCAVA in a single total at the bottom of the states official election result reports (such reports are officially posted in a csv file structure document) instead of separately tabulating such votes in the same category as all other votes cast in their home towns.

Executive Order 12642

An executive order issued by President Reagan on June 9, 1988, designated the Secretary of Defense as the presidential designee responsible for administering the act and authorizes the Secretary of Defense to delegate the responsibilities under the act and executive order to any person or persons within the Department of Defense.{{Cite web

|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=35947

|title=Executive Order 12642–Designation of the Secretary of Defense as the Presidential Designee Under Title I of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act

|date=8 June 1988

|publisher=The American Presidency Project

|access-date=2007-12-03

}} Department of Defense directives issued by Secretaries of Defense have delegated responsibilities for the FVAP to a FVAP director. The current director as of November 2020 is David Bierne.

The act was amended by the Help America Vote Act (2002) and the National Defense Authorization Acts in 2002 and 2005.

Relevance to District of Columbia voting rights

The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act allows U.S. citizens to vote from overseas, even if they have permanently left the United States. Since these citizens are no longer residents of a U.S. State but maintain their right to vote, legal scholars have therefore argued that United States Congress also has the authority to grant voting rights to residents of the District of Columbia.{{cite web|url=http://www.democraticwhip.gov/sites/default/files/documents/dcvoteletterlegalscholars.pdf|title=25 Legal Scholars Support Constitutionality of DC Voting Rights|date=2007-03-12|access-date=2014-11-04}}

Relevance to Puerto Rico voting rights

The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act has also been challenged in federal court by U.S. citizens living in Puerto Rico. Plaintiffs in the case of Igartua de la Rosa v. United States claimed that the Act is unconstitutional because it allows U.S. citizens who move abroad to vote in federal elections, but not if they relocate to Puerto Rico. The challenge was dismissed by the courts.{{cite journal|last=Román|first=José D.|title=Trying to Fit an Oval Shaped Island into a Square Constitution: Arguments for Puerto Rican Statehood|journal=Fordham Urban Law Journal|date=April 2002|volume=29|url=http://academic.udayton.edu/race/02rights/citizen01.htm}} However, in his dissent, Judge Juan R. Torruella argued that the United States Constitution neither denies citizens of Puerto Rico the right to vote for members of the United States House of Representatives nor imposes a limitation on the federal government's authority to extend federal voting rights to territorial residents under other constitutional powers.[https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-1st-circuit/1545899.html GREGORIO IGARTÚA ET AL v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ET AL (IGARTUA IV)]

References

External links

[http://www.fvap.gov/ Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) official website]
[http://overseasvotefoundation.org Overseas Vote Foundation official website]
[http://www.votefromabroad.org/ Website for overseas registration & ballot request] by Democrats Abroad
[https://web.archive.org/web/20090825165057/http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/misc/activ_uoc.htm Summary of the act and its provisions, administration, and enforcement] from the Department of Justice
{{cite report|last=Garrett|first=R. Sam|date=October 26, 2016|title=The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act: Overview and Issues|publisher=Congressional Research Service|page=9|url=https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RS/RS20764|access-date=December 16, 2023}}

Category:Expatriate voting in United States elections

Category:United States federal election legislation

Category:1986 in American law

Category:History of voting rights in the United States

Category:Presidency of Ronald Reagan