I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3058

To amend the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act to

extend the period for receipt of absentee ballots, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 8, 1996

Mr. THOMAS (for himself and Mr. FAZIO of California) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Oversight

A BILL

To amend the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee

Voting Act to extend the period for receipt of absentee

ballots, 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Overseas Citizens Vot5 ing Rights Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF PERIOD FOR RECEIPT OF ABSENTEE

7 BALLOTS.

8 Section 102 of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens

9 Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff–1) is amended—
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1 (1) by striking out ‘‘and’’ at the end of para2 graph (2);

3 (2) by striking out the period at the end of

4 paragraph (3) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘; and’’;

5 and

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

7 paragraph:

8 ‘‘(4) permit absentee ballots to be received at

9 least until the close of polls on election day.’’.

10 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF FEDERAL WRITE-IN ABSENTEE BAL11 LOT PROVISIONS TO SPECIAL, PRIMARY, AND

12 RUNOFF ELECTIONS.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 103(a) of the Uniformed

14 and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C.

15 1973ff–2(a)) is amended—

16 (1) by inserting after ‘‘general’’ the following:

17 ‘‘, special, primary, and runoff’’; and

18 (2) by striking out ‘‘States,’’ and inserting in

19 lieu thereof ‘‘State’’.

20 (b) SPECIAL RULES.—Section 103(c) of the Uni21 formed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (42

22 U.S.C. 1973ff–2(c)) is amended—

23 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting after ‘‘can24 didate or’’ the following: ‘‘, with respect to a general

25 or special election,’’; and
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1 (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting after ‘‘can2 didate or’’ the following: ‘‘with respect to a general

3 election’’.

4 (c) USE OF APPROVED STATE ABSENTEE BALLOT IN

5 PLACE OF FEDERAL WRITE-IN ABSENTEE BALLOT.—

6 Section 103(e) of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens

7 Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff–2(e)) is amended

8 by striking out ‘‘a general’’ and inserting in lieu thereof

9 ‘‘an’’.

10 (d) CERTAIN STATES EXEMPTED.—Section 103(f) of

11 the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act

12 (42 U.S.C. 1973ff–2(f)) is amended by striking out ‘‘gen13 eral’’ each place it appears.

14 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

15 this section shall apply with respect to elections taking

16 place after December 31, 1996.

17 SEC. 4. USE OF ELECTRONIC RETURN OF ABSENTEE BAL18 LOTS.

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

20 Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff–

21 3) is amended—

22 (1) by striking out ‘‘and’’ at the end of para23 graph (8);
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1 (2) by striking out the period at the end of

2 paragraph (9) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘; and’’;

3 and

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

5 paragraph:

6 ‘‘(10) in consultation with the Presidential des7 ignee, consider means for providing for expeditious

8 methods for the return of absentee ballots, including

9 return by electronic transmittal, with maximum re10 gard for ballot secrecy, audit procedures, and other

11 considerations relating to the integrity of the elec12 tion process.’’.

13 (b) SECRECY AND VERIFICATION OF ELECTRONI14 CALLY TRANSMITTED BALLOTS.—Section 104 of the Uni15 formed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (42

16 U.S.C. 1973ff–3) is amended—

17 (1) by striking out ‘‘To afford’’ and inserting in

18 lieu thereof ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—To afford’’; and

19 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub20 section:

21 ‘‘(b) SECRECY AND VERIFICATION OF ELECTRONI22 CALLY TRANSMITTED BALLOTS.—No electronic transmit23 tal or related procedure under subsection (a)(10) that is

24 paid for, in whole or in part, with Federal funds may be

25 carried out in any manner that, at the originating location
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1 (1) permits any person other than the voter to view a com2 pleted ballot, or (2) otherwise compromises ballot secrecy.

3 At the earliest possible opportunity, the original of each

4 completed ballot that is transmitted electronically shall be

5 submitted in a secrecy envelope to the applicable location

6 in the State involved.’’

7 SEC. 5. ELECTRONIC TRANSMITTAL OF BALLOTING MATE8 RIALS.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Uniformed and Overseas

10 Citizens Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff et seq.)

11 is amended by adding at the end the following new sec12 tions:

13 ‘‘SEC. 108. ELECTRONIC TRANSMITTAL OF BALLOTING MA14 TERIALS.

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State, in cooperation with

16 the Presidential designee, shall establish a system for elec17 tronic transmittal of balloting materials for overseas vot18 ers. The system shall provide for—

19 ‘‘(1) electronic transmittal as an alternative

20 method for transmittal of balloting materials to

21 overseas voters;

22 ‘‘(2) use of the format of the official post card

23 form prescribed under section 101 (or the format of

24 any other registration form provided for under State

25 law) for purposes of absentee voter registration ap-
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1 plication and absentee ballot application, with the

2 condition that a State may require receipt of a form

3 with an original signature before the ballot of the

4 voter is counted;

5 ‘‘(3) furnishing of absentee ballots by electronic

6 transmittal, from locations within the State, as se7 lected by the chief State election official, to overseas

8 voters who request such transmittal; and

9 ‘‘(4) special alternative methods of transmittal

10 of balloting materials for use only when required by

11 an emergency declared by the President or the Con12 gress.

13 ‘‘(b) FUNDING REQUIREMENT.—The requirements of

14 subsection (a) shall apply to a State with respect to an

15 election—

16 ‘‘(1) if there is full payment by the Federal

17 Government of any additional cost incurred by the

18 State after the date of the enactment of this Act for

19 the implementation of such subsection (a), with such

20 costs to be determined by the Presidential designee

21 and the chief State election official, acting jointly; or

22 ‘‘(2) in any case of less than full payment, as

23 described in paragraph (1), if the State, in the man24 ner provided for under the law of the State, agrees

25 to the application of such requirements.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 109. NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT FOR APPROVAL

2 OF ELECTRONIC TRANSMITTAL METHOD.

3 ‘‘The Presidential designee may not approve use of

4 any method of electronic transmittal for purposes of this

5 Act, unless, not later than 90 days before the effective

6 date of the approval, the Presidential designee submits to

7 the Congress a detailed report describing the method.’’.

8 (b) DEFINITION AMENDMENT.—Section 107 of the

9 Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (42

10 U.S.C. 1973ff–6) is amended—

11 (1) by striking out ‘‘and’’ at the end of para12 graph (7);

13 (2) by striking out the period at the end of

14 paragraph (8) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘; and’’;

15 and

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

17 paragraph:

18 ‘‘(9) the term ‘electronic transmittal’ means,

19 with respect to balloting materials, transmittal by

20 facsimile machine or other electronic method ap21 proved by the Presidential designee.’’.

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

23 this section shall apply with respect to elections taking

24 place after December 31, 1996.
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1 SEC. 6. REPORT PROVISION.

2 Section 101(b)(6) of the Uniformed and Overseas

3 Citizens Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff(b)(6)) is

4 amended—

5 (1) by striking out ‘‘participation and’’ and in6 serting in lieu thereof ‘‘participation,’’; and

7 (2) by inserting before the period at the end the

8 following: ‘‘, and a separate analysis of electronic

9 transmittal of balloting materials’’.

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