I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 10064 

To direct the Secretary of Defense to provide an individual who enlists 

as a member, or who is commissioned as an officer, of the Army, 

Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, or Space Force and who is eligible 

to register to vote in elections for Federal office in the State in which 

the individual resides with a voter registration application form for such 

elections at the time the individual enlists or is commissioned, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 29, 2024 

Mr. CASTEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on 

Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Defense to provide an individual 

who enlists as a member, or who is commissioned as 

an officer, of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, 

or Space Force and who is eligible to register to vote 

in elections for Federal office in the State in which 

the individual resides with a voter registration application 

form for such elections at the time the individual enlists 

or is commissioned, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Military Voters Over3 seas Technical Enhancement Act’’ or the ‘‘Military VOTE 

4 Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. MAKING VOTER REGISTRATION AVAILABLE UPON 

6 ENLISTMENT. 

7 (a) VOTER REGISTRATION AVAILABILITY.—At the 

8 time an individual enlists as a member, or is commissioned 

9 as an officer, of a covered Armed Force, the Secretary 

10 of Defense shall— 

11 (1) ask the individual if the individual is eligible 

12 to register to vote in elections for Federal office in 

13 the State in which the individual resides; and 

14 (2) if the individual responds by stating that 

15 the individual is eligible to register to vote in such 

16 elections, the Secretary shall, in accordance with sec17 tion 7(a)(4) of the National Voter Registration Act 

18 of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20506(a)(4))— 

19 (A) provide the individual with a mail voter 

20 registration application form; 

21 (B) assist the individual in completing the 

22 form, unless the individual refuses such assist23 ance; and 

24 (C) accept the individual’s completed voter 

25 registration application form for transmittal to 

26 the appropriate State election official. 


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1 (b) NO EFFECT ON SERVICE IN COVERED ARMED

2 FORCE.—In carrying out this section with respect to any 

3 individual, the Secretary shall not— 

4 (1) seek to influence the individual’s political 

5 preference or party registration; 

6 (2) display any such political preference or 

7 party allegiance; 

8 (3) make any statement to an individual or take 

9 any action the purpose or effect of which is to dis10 courage the individual from registering to vote; or 

11 (4) make any statement to an individual or take 

12 any action the purpose or effect of which is to lead 

13 the individual to believe that a decision to register 

14 or not to register has any bearing on the individual’s 

15 service in a covered Armed Force. 

16 (c) AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary shall seek to enter 

17 into agreements with the appropriate State election offi18 cials to enable the Secretary to carry out this section. 

19 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 (1) The term ‘‘covered Armed Force’’ means 

21 the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, or Space 

22 Force. 

23 (2) The terms ‘‘election’’ and ‘‘Federal office’’ 

24 have the meaning given such terms in section 301 


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1 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 

2 U.S.C. 30101). 

3 (3) The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several 

4 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 

5 of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United 

6 States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the 

7 Northern Mariana Islands. 

8 SEC. 3. PROMOTING TIMELY AND ACCURATE DELIVERY OF 

9 ABSENTEE BALLOTS. 

10 (a) ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION.—Section 102(f)(2) 

11 of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting 

12 Act (52 U.S.C. 20302(f)(2)) is amended to read as fol13 lows: 

14 ‘‘(2) TRANSMISSION IF NO PREFERENCE INDI15 CATED.—If an absent uniformed services voter or 

16 overseas voter does not designate a preference under 

17 paragraph (1)(B)— 

18 ‘‘(A) the State shall transmit the ballot 

19 electronically; or 

20 ‘‘(B) if the State lacks sufficient informa21 tion to transmit the ballot electronically, the 

22 State shall transmit the ballot by any delivery 

23 method allowable in accordance with applicable 

24 State law.’’. 


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1 (b) NOTIFICATION OF CHANGE OF ADDRESS AND

2 CHANGE IN UNIFORMED SERVICE STATUS.—Section 

3 101(b) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20301(b)) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking the semicolon at the end of 

5 paragraph (10); 

6 (2) by striking the period at the end of para7 graph (11) and inserting a semicolon; and 

8 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

9 paragraphs: 

10 ‘‘(12) take such steps as may be necessary to 

11 ensure that the appropriate State election official of 

12 a State has timely and accurate contact information, 

13 including an updated mailing address, for each uni14 formed services voter who is registered to vote in the 

15 State, without regard to whether the voter is an ab16 sent uniformed services voter; and 

17 ‘‘(13) notify the appropriate State election offi18 cial of a State if an individual who is registered to 

19 vote in the State and who is a uniformed services 

20 voter, including an absent uniformed services voter, 

21 is no longer a uniformed services voter.’’. 

22 (c) DEFINITION.—Section 107 of such Act (52 

23 U.S.C. 20310) is amended— 

24 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

25 (7); 


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1 (2) by redesignating paragraph (8) as para2 graph (9); and 

3 (3) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol4 lowing new paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(8) ‘uniformed services voter’ means an indi6 vidual who is not absent from the place of residence 

7 where the member is otherwise qualified to vote and 

8 who is— 

9 ‘‘(A) a member of a uniformed service on 

10 active duty; 

11 ‘‘(B) a member of the merchant marine; or 

12 ‘‘(C) a spouse or dependent of a member 

13 referred to in subparagraph (A) or (B) ; and’’. 

14 SEC. 4. USE OF SINGLE ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION 

15 FOR SUBSEQUENT ELECTIONS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 104 of the Uniformed and 

17 Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20306) 

18 is amended to read as follows: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 104. TREATMENT OF BALLOT REQUESTS. 

20 ‘‘(a) USE OF APPLICATION BY ABSENT UNIFORMED

21 SERVICES VOTERS FOR SUBSEQUENT ELECTIONS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a State accepts and 

23 processes an official post card form (prescribed 

24 under section 101) submitted by an absent uni25 formed services voter for simultaneous voter regVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:21 Oct 30, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H10064.IH H10064

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1 istration and absentee ballot application (in accord2 ance with section 102(a)(4)) and the voter requests 

3 that the application be considered an application for 

4 an absentee ballot for each subsequent election for 

5 Federal office held in the State, the State shall pro6 vide an absentee ballot to the voter for each such 

7 subsequent election. 

8 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR VOTERS CHANGING UNI9 FORMED SERVICE STATUS.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

10 apply with respect to a voter registered to vote in a 

11 State for any election held after the voter is no 

12 longer a uniformed services voter. 

13 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION OF REFUSAL OF APPLICATION ON

14 GROUNDS OF EARLY SUBMISSION.—A State may not 

15 refuse to accept or to process, with respect to any election 

16 for Federal office, any otherwise valid voter registration 

17 application or absentee ballot application (including the 

18 postcard form prescribed under section 101) submitted by 

19 an absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter on 

20 the grounds that the voter submitted the application be21 fore the first date on which the State otherwise accepts 

22 or processes such applications for that election which are 

23 submitted by absentee voters who are not members of the 

24 uniformed services or overseas citizens.’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING REVISION TO POSTCARD FORM.— 

2 Section 101 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20301) is amended— 

3 (1) in subsection (b)(2), by striking the semi4 colon and inserting ‘‘, in accordance with subsection 

5 (c);’’; 

6 (2) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as 

7 subsections (c) and (d); and 

8 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol9 lowing new subsection: 

10 ‘‘(c) USE OF OFFICIAL POST CARD FORM FOR REG11 ISTRATION FOR SUBSEQUENT ELECTIONS.—The Presi12 dential designee shall ensure that the official postcard 

13 form prescribed under subsection (b)(2) enables a voter 

14 using the form to request an absentee ballot for subse15 quent elections for Federal office held in a State, as pro16 vided under section 104.’’. 

17 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

18 this subsection shall apply with respect to voter registra19 tion and absentee ballot applications which are submitted 

20 to a State or local election official on or after the date 

21 of enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 5. EVALUATION OF ACCURACY AND TIMELINESS OF 

2 VOTER REGISTRATION INFORMATION PRO3 VIDED TO ABSENT UNIFORMED SERVICES 

4 VOTERS UPON TRANSFER TO NEW DUTY STA5 TION. 

6 Section 105A of the Uniformed and Overseas Citi7 zens Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20308) is amend8 ed— 

9 (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub10 section (d); and 

11 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol12 lowing new subsection: 

13 ‘‘(c) ADEQUACY OF VOTER REGISTRATION INFORMA14 TION PROVIDED TO MEMBERS UPON TRANSFER TO NEW

15 DUTY STATION.—Not later than one year after the date 

16 of the enactment of this subsection, the Presidential des17 ignee shall submit to the President and the relevant con18 gressional committees an evaluation of whether the infor19 mation on voter registration which is included in the 

20 change of base packet provided to absent uniformed serv21 ices voters who are transferred to new duty stations pro22 vides timely and accurate information on how such voters 

23 may register to vote in elections for Federal office.’’. 

Æ 


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