II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3073 

To amend the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act to 

improve procedures for the collection and delivery of absentee ballots 

of absent overseas uniformed services voters, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 22, 2008 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Mr. VITTER, Mr. ALLARD, Mr. CRAIG, Mrs. DOLE, 

Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. ENSIGN, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. STEVENS, Mr. CHAMBLISS, Mr. BUNNING, Mr. KYL, Mrs. 

HUTCHISON, Mr. ENZI, Mr. WICKER, Mr. COBURN, Mr. COLEMAN, Mr. 

ISAKSON, Mr. BOND, Mr. LUGAR, and Mr. THUNE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules 

and Administration 

A BILL 

To amend the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee 

Voting Act to improve procedures for the collection and 

delivery of absentee ballots of absent overseas uniformed 

services voters, 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 ‘‘Military Voting Protec5 tion Act of 2008’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) In the defense of freedom, members of the 

4 United States Armed Forces are routinely deployed 

5 to overseas theaters of combat, assigned to overseas 

6 locations, and assigned to ocean-going vessels far 

7 from home. 

8 (2) As the United States continues to fight the 

9 Global War on Terror, the substantial need for over10 seas service by members of the Armed Forces will 

11 continue, as we live in what senior Army leaders 

12 have referred to as an ‘‘era of persistent conflict’’. 

13 (3) The right to vote is one of the most basic 

14 and fundamental rights enjoyed by Americans, and 

15 one which the members of the Armed Forces bravely 

16 defend both at home in the United States and over17 seas. 

18 (4) The decisions of elected officials of the 

19 United States Government directly impact the mem20 bers of the Armed Forces who are often called to de21 ploy or otherwise serve overseas as a result of deci22 sions made by such elected officials. 

23 (5) The ability of the members of the Armed 

24 Forces to vote while serving overseas has been ham25 pered by numerous factors, including inadequate 

26 processes for ensuring their timely receipt of absenVerDate Aug 31 2005 19:42 May 24, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3073.IS S3073

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1 tee ballots, delivery methods that are typically slow 

2 and antiquated, and a myriad of absentee voting 

3 procedures that are often confusing and vary among 

4 the several States. 

5 (6) The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Ab6 sentee Voting Act, which requires the States to allow 

7 absentee voting for members of the Armed Forces 

8 and other specified groups of United States citizens, 

9 was intended to protect the voting rights of members 

10 of the Armed Forces. 

11 (7) According to a survey conducted by the 

12 United States Election Assistance Commission in 

13 September 2007, at least 992,034 absentee ballots 

14 were requested in the 2006 general election under 

15 the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Vot16 ing Act. However, less than one-third of such bal17 lots, or approximately 330,000 out of 992,034, were 

18 ultimately received by local election officials, evidenc19 ing an unacceptable failure of the current absentee 

20 ballot system in ensuring that those who defend our 

21 freedom and the American way of life have a voice 

22 in choosing their elected officials. 

23 (8) The United States Election Assistance 

24 Commission specifically found that, of the overseas 

25 members of the Armed Forces who requested ballots 


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1 for the 2006 election, only 47.6 percent actually cast 

2 a ballot or had their cast ballot counted. 

3 (9) According to the survey, of all the absentee 

4 ballots under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens 

5 Absentee Voting Act not counted in the 2006 gen6 eral election, more than 70 percent were not counted 

7 because they were either sent back to local election 

8 officials as undeliverable (likely due to a bad ad9 dress), or were sent in by the voter but received by 

10 local election officials after the deadline for receipt. 

11 (10) The current system of absentee voting for 

12 overseas members of the Armed Forces could be 

13 greatly improved by decreasing delays in the process, 

14 and certain steps by the Department of Defense, in15 cluding utilization of express mail services for the 

16 delivery of completed absentee ballots, would address 

17 the major sources of delay. 

18 (11) Modern technology continues to rapidly 

19 advance, greatly expanding the range of potential so20 lutions to these problems and increasing the ability 

21 to remove obstacles encountered by overseas mem22 bers of the Armed Forces in the past in trying to 

23 cast their votes. 


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1 SEC. 3. PROCEDURES FOR COLLECTION AND DELIVERY OF 

2 ABSENTEE BALLOTS OF ABSENT OVERSEAS 

3 UNIFORMED SERVICES VOTERS. 

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

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

6 is amended by inserting after section 103 the following 

7 new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 103A. PROCEDURES FOR COLLECTION AND DELIVERY 

9 OF ABSENTEE BALLOTS OF ABSENT OVER10 SEAS UNIFORMED SERVICES VOTERS. 

11 ‘‘(a) COLLECTION.—The Presidential designee shall 

12 establish procedures for collecting absentee ballots of ab13 sent overseas uniformed services voters in regularly sched14 uled general elections for Federal office, including absen15 tee ballots prepared by States and the Federal write-in 

16 absentee ballot prescribed under section 103, and for de17 livering the ballots to the appropriate election officials. 

18 ‘‘(b) ENSURING DELIVERY PRIOR TO CLOSING OF

19 POLLS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Under the procedures es21 tablished under this section, the Presidential des22 ignee shall ensure (either directly or by contract) 

23 that any absentee ballot for a regularly scheduled 

24 general election for Federal office which is collected 

25 prior to the applicable deadline described in para26 graph (2) is delivered to the appropriate election ofVerDate Aug 31 2005 19:42 May 24, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3073.IS S3073

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1 ficial in a State prior to the time established by the 

2 State for the closing of the polls on the date of the 

3 election. 

4 ‘‘(2) CONTRACT WITH EXPRESS MAIL PRO5 VIDERS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To the greatest extent 

7 practicable, the Presidential designee shall 

8 carry out this section by contract with a pro9 vider of express mail services. 

10 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR VOTERS IN JU11 RISDICTIONS USING POST OFFICE BOXES FOR

12 COLLECTION OF ABSENTEE BALLOTS.—In the 

13 case of an absent uniformed services voter who 

14 wishes to use the procedures established under 

15 this section and whose absentee ballot is re16 quired by the appropriate election official to be 

17 delivered to a post office box, the Presidential 

18 designee shall enter into an agreement with the 

19 United States Postal Service for the delivery of 

20 the ballot to the election official under the pro21 cedures established under this section. 

22 ‘‘(3) APPLICABLE DEADLINE.—The applicable 

23 deadline described in this paragraph is— 


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1 ‘‘(A) noon (in the location in which the 

2 ballot is collected) on the last Friday that pre3 cedes the date of the election; or 

4 ‘‘(B) in the case of a location for which the 

5 Presidential designee determines that the appli6 cable deadline under subparagraph (A) is not 

7 sufficient to ensure timely delivery of the ballot 

8 under paragraph (1) because of remoteness or 

9 other factors, noon (in the location in which the 

10 ballot is collected) on such date prior to the last 

11 Friday that precedes the date of the election as 

12 the Presidential designee establishes. 

13 ‘‘(4) PROHIBITING REFUSAL BY STATE TO AC14 CEPT BALLOTS NOT DELIVERED BY POSTAL SERVICE

15 OR IN PERSON.—A State may not refuse to accept 

16 or process any absentee ballot delivered under the 

17 procedures established under this section on the 

18 grounds that the ballot is received by the State other 

19 than through delivery by the United States Postal 

20 Service or delivery in person. 

21 ‘‘(c) TRACKING MECHANISM.—Under the procedures 

22 established under this section, the entity responsible for 

23 delivering absentee ballots to the appropriate election offi24 cials shall implement procedures to enable any individual 

25 whose absentee ballot for a regularly scheduled general 


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1 election for Federal office is collected by the Presidential 

2 designee to determine whether the ballot has been deliv3 ered to the appropriate election official, using the Internet, 

4 an automated telephone system, or such other methods as 

5 the entity may provide. 

6 ‘‘(d) ABSENT OVERSEAS UNIFORMED SERVICES

7 VOTER DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘absent over8 seas uniformed services voter’ means an overseas voter de9 scribed in section 107(5)(A). 

10 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

11 are authorized to be appropriated to the Presidential des12 ignee such sums as may be necessary to carry out this 

13 section. Any amounts appropriated pursuant to the au14 thorization under this subsection shall remain available 

15 until expended without fiscal year limitation.’’. 

16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

17 (1) FEDERAL RESPONSIBILITIES.—Section 

18 101(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff(b)) is amend19 ed— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para21 graph (6); 

22 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

23 paragraph (7) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

24 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

25 paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(8) carry out section 103A with respect to the 

2 collection and delivery of absentee ballots of absent 

3 overseas uniformed services voters in elections for 

4 Federal office.’’. 

5 (2) STATE RESPONSIBILITIES.—Section 102(a) 

6 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff–1(a)) is amended— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para8 graph (4); 

9 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

10 paragraph (5) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

11 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

12 paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(6) carry out section 103A(b)(2) with respect 

14 to the processing and acceptance of absentee ballots 

15 of absent overseas uniformed services voters.’’. 

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

17 this section shall apply with respect to the regularly sched18 uled general election for Federal office held in November 

19 2008 and each succeeding election for Federal office. 

20 SEC. 4. PROTECTING VOTER PRIVACY AND SECRECY OF AB21 SENTEE BALLOTS. 

22 Section 101(b) of the Uniformed and Overseas Citi23 zens Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff(b)), as 

24 amended by section 3(b), is amended— 


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

2 (7); 

3 (2) by striking the period at the end of para4 graph (8) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

6 paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(9) to the greatest extent practicable, take 

8 such actions as may be required to ensure that ab9 sent uniformed services voters who cast absentee 

10 ballots at locations or facilities under the Presi11 dential designee’s jurisdiction are able to do so in a 

12 private and independent manner, and take such ac13 tions as may be required to protect the privacy of 

14 the contents of absentee ballots cast by absent uni15 formed services voters and overseas voters while 

16 such ballots are in the Presidential designee’s pos17 session or control.’’. 

18 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON USE OF TECHNOLOGY TO 

19 IMPROVE ABSENTEE BALLOTING BY MEM20 BERS OF THE ARMED FORCES. 

21 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find22 ings: 

23 (1) The majority of the overseas members of 

24 the Armed Forces, whether deployed or regularly 


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1 stationed overseas, have regular access to computers 

2 and the Internet. 

3 (2) The majority of the members of the Armed 

4 Forces have already proven themselves able to rou5 tinely conduct electronic transactions involving sen6 sitive personal information, including transactions 

7 relating to pay and allowances, allotments, perform8 ance reviews, and payment of income taxes. 

9 (3) Strong evidence exists that the implementa10 tion of secure electronic voting for deployed mem11 bers of the Armed Forces is an achievable goal. Aus12 tralia, an important ally of the United States, has 

13 successfully utilized electronic voting for its deployed 

14 military members through a trial program run by 

15 the Department of Defence of Australia and the 

16 Australian Electoral Commission. In November, 

17 2007, military members of Australia deployed to 

18 Iraq, Timor-Leste, and the Solomon Islands voted in 

19 the federal election in Australia through a secure 

20 encrypted electronic voting system that makes use of 

21 the secure communications infrastructure of the De22 partment of Defence of Australia. 

23 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—In light of the findings 

24 in subsection (a), it is the sense of Congress that the De25 partment of Defense— 


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1 (1) should work to utilize existing and emerging 

2 technologies and procedures that have the potential 

3 to enhance the ability of the members of the Armed 

4 Forces (whether overseas or in the United States 

5 but not located in reasonable proximity to their reg6 istered voting locations) to meaningfully participate 

7 in elections and have their votes counted; and 

8 (2) should continue to closely examine the op9 tion of electronic voting for overseas members of the 

10 Armed Forces, focusing on systems and procedures 

11 that are efficient, cost-effective, secure, and well12 suited to achieve the important objectives of pro13 tecting voter privacy and guarding against voter 

14 fraud. 

Æ 


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