I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3073 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 2, 2008 

Referred to the Committee on House Administration 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. PROCEDURES FOR COLLECTION AND DELIV2 ERY OF MARKED ABSENTEE BALLOTS OF AB3 SENT OVERSEAS UNIFORMED SERVICES VOT4 ERS. 

5 (a) PROCEDURES.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Uniformed and Over7 seas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff 

8 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 103 

9 the following new section: 

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

11 OF MARKED ABSENTEE BALLOTS OF ABSENT 

12 OVERSEAS UNIFORMED SERVICES VOTERS. 

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

14 establish procedures for collecting marked absentee ballots 

15 of absent overseas uniformed services voters in regularly 

16 scheduled general elections for Federal office, including 

17 absentee ballots prepared by States and Federal write-in 

18 absentee ballots prescribed under section 103, and for de19 livering the ballots to the appropriate election officials. 

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

21 POLLS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Under the procedures es23 tablished under this section, the Presidential des24 ignee shall ensure that any marked absentee ballot 

25 for a regularly scheduled general election for Federal 

26 office which is collected prior to the deadline deVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:45 Oct 02, 2008 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3073.RFH S3073

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1 scribed in paragraph (3) is delivered to the appro2 priate election official in a State prior to the time 

3 established by the State for the closing of the polls 

4 on the date of the election. 

5 ‘‘(2) CONTRACT WITH EXPRESS MAIL PRO6 VIDERS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Presidential des8 ignee shall carry out this section by contract 

9 with one or more providers of express mail serv10 ices. 

11 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR VOTERS IN JU12 RISDICTIONS USING POST OFFICE BOXES FOR

13 COLLECTION OF MARKED ABSENTEE BAL14 LOTS.—In the case of an absent uniformed 

15 services voter who wishes to use the procedures 

16 established under this section and whose 

17 marked absentee ballot is required by the ap18 propriate election official to be delivered to a 

19 post office box, the Presidential designee shall 

20 enter into an agreement with the United States 

21 Postal Service for the delivery of the ballot to 

22 the election official under the procedures estab23 lished under this section. 

24 ‘‘(3) DEADLINE DESCRIBED.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

2 subparagraph (B), the deadline described in 

3 this paragraph is noon (in the location in which 

4 the ballot is collected) on the last Tuesday that 

5 precedes the date of the election. 

6 ‘‘(B) AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH ALTER7 NATIVE DEADLINE FOR CERTAIN LOCATIONS.— 

8 If the Presidential designee determines that the 

9 deadline described in subparagraph (A) is not 

10 sufficient to ensure timely delivery of the ballot 

11 under paragraph (1) with respect to a par12 ticular location because of remoteness or other 

13 factors, the Presidential designee may establish 

14 as an alternative deadline for that location the 

15 latest date occurring prior to the deadline de16 scribed in subparagraph (A) which is sufficient 

17 to ensure timely delivery of the ballot under 

18 paragraph (1). 

19 ‘‘(4) PROHIBITION ON REFUSAL BY STATES TO

20 ACCEPT MARKED ABSENTEE BALLOTS NOT DELIV21 ERED BY POSTAL SERVICE OR IN PERSON.—A State 

22 may not refuse to accept or process any marked ab23 sentee ballot delivered under the procedures estab24 lished under this section on the grounds that the 


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1 ballot is received by the State other than through 

2 delivery by the United States Postal Service. 

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

4 established under this section, the entity responsible for 

5 delivering marked absentee ballots to the appropriate elec6 tion officials shall implement procedures to enable any in7 dividual whose ballot for a regularly scheduled general 

8 election for Federal office is collected by the Presidential 

9 designee to determine whether the ballot has been deliv10 ered to the appropriate election official, using the Internet, 

11 an automated telephone system, or such other methods as 

12 the entity may provide. 

13 ‘‘(d) ABSENT OVERSEAS UNIFORMED SERVICES

14 VOTER DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘absent over15 seas uniformed services voter’ means an overseas voter de16 scribed in section 107(5)(A). 

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

18 are authorized to be appropriated to the Presidential des19 ignee such sums as may be necessary to carry out this 

20 section.’’. 

21 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 103A of the 

22 Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting 

23 Act, as added by this subsection, shall apply with re24 spect to each regularly scheduled general election for 

25 Federal office held on or after November 1, 2010. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

2 (1) FEDERAL RESPONSIBILITIES.—Section 

3 101(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff(b)) is amend4 ed— 

5 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para6 graph (6); 

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

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

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

10 paragraph: 

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

12 collection and delivery of marked absentee ballots of 

13 absent overseas uniformed services voters in elec14 tions for Federal office.’’. 

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

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

17 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para18 graph (4); 

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

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

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

22 paragraph: 

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

24 to the processing and acceptance of marked absentee 


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1 ballots of absent overseas uniformed services vot2 ers.’’. 

3 (c) OUTREACH FOR ABSENT OVERSEAS UNIFORMED

4 SERVICES VOTERS ON PROCEDURES.—The Presidential 

5 designee shall take appropriate actions to inform individ6 uals who are anticipated to be absent overseas uniformed 

7 services voters in the regularly scheduled general election 

8 for Federal office held in November 2008 of the proce9 dures for the collection and delivery of marked absentee 

10 ballots established pursuant to section 103A of the Uni11 formed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, as 

12 added by subsection (a), including the manner in which 

13 such voters may utilize such procedures for the submittal 

14 of marked absentee ballots in regularly scheduled elections 

15 for Federal office. 

16 (d) REPORTS ON UTILIZATION OF PROCEDURES.— 

17 (1) REPORTS REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 

18 days after each regularly scheduled general election 

19 for Federal office held after January 1, 2008, the 

20 Presidential designee shall submit to the congres21 sional defense committees a report on the utilization 

22 of the procedures for the collection and delivery of 

23 marked absentee ballots established pursuant to sec24 tion 103A of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens 


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1 Absentee Voting Act, as so added, during such gen2 eral election. 

3 (2) ELEMENTS.—Each report under paragraph 

4 (1) shall include, for the general election covered by 

5 such report, a description of the utilization of the 

6 procedures described in that paragraph during such 

7 general election, including the number of marked ab8 sentee ballots collected and delivered under such pro9 cedures. 

10 (e) REPORT ON STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION.— 

11 (1) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than one 

12 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

13 Presidential designee shall submit to the congres14 sional defense committees a report on the status of 

15 the implementation of the program for the collection 

16 and delivery of marked absentee ballots established 

17 pursuant to section 103A of the Uniformed and 

18 Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, as added by 

19 subsection (a). 

20 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report under paragraph 

21 (1) shall include a status of the implementation of 

22 the program and a detailed description of the spe23 cific steps taken towards its implementation for No24 vember 2009 and November 2010. 

25 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) The term ‘‘absent overseas uniformed serv2 ices voter’’ has the meaning given that term in sec3 tion 103A(d) of the Uniformed and Overseas Citi4 zens Absentee Voting Act, as added by subsection 

5 (a). 

6 (2) The term ‘‘Presidential designee’’ means the 

7 official designated under section 101(a) of the Uni8 formed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act 

9 (42 U.S.C. 1973ff(a)). 

10 (3) The term ‘‘congressional defense commit11 tees’’ means— 

12 (A) the Committee on Armed Services and 

13 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; 

14 and 

15 (B) the Committee on Armed Services and 

16 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

17 of Representatives. 

18 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON REFUSAL TO ACCEPT VOTER REG19 ISTRATION AND ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICA20 TIONS AND FEDERAL WRITE-IN ABSENTEE 

21 BALLOTS FOR FAILURE TO MEET NON22 ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS. 

23 (a) VOTER REGISTRATION AND ABSENTEE BALLOT

24 APPLICATIONS.— 


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1 (1) PROHIBITING REFUSAL TO ACCEPT APPLI2 CATIONS FOR FAILURE TO MEET NONESSENTIAL RE3 QUIREMENTS.—Section 102 of the Uniformed and 

4 Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 1973ff–1) is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing new subsection: 

7 ‘‘(e) PROHIBITING REFUSAL TO ACCEPT APPLICA8 TIONS FOR FAILURE TO MEET NONESSENTIAL REQUIRE9 MENTS.—A State shall accept and process any otherwise 

10 valid voter registration application or absentee ballot ap11 plication (including the official post card form prescribed 

12 under section 101) submitted in any manner by an absent 

13 uniformed services voter or overseas voter that contains 

14 the information required on the official post card form 

15 prescribed under section 101 (other than information 

16 which the Presidential designee, in consultation with the 

17 Election Assistance Commission and the Election Assist18 ance Commission Board of Advisors under section 214 of 

19 the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15344), 

20 determines, under regulations promulgated by the Presi21 dential designee, is not clearly necessary to prevent fraud 

22 in the conduct of elections).’’. 

23 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (e) of sec24 tion 102 of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens 

25 Absentee Voting Act, as added by this subsection, 


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1 shall apply with respect to each regularly scheduled 

2 general election for Federal office held on or after 

3 November 1, 2010. 

4 (b) FEDERAL WRITE-IN ABSENTEE BALLOT.— 

5 (1) PROHIBITING REFUSAL TO ACCEPT BALLOT

6 FOR FAILURE TO MEET NONESSENTIAL REQUIRE7 MENTS.—Section 103 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

8 1973ff–2) is amended— 

9 (A) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub10 section (g); and 

11 (B) by inserting after subsection (e) the 

12 following new subsection: 

13 ‘‘(f) PROHIBITING REFUSAL TO ACCEPT BALLOT

14 FOR FAILURE TO MEET NONESSENTIAL REQUIRE15 MENTS.—A State shall accept and process any otherwise 

16 valid Federal write-in absentee ballot submitted in any 

17 manner by an absent uniformed services voter or overseas 

18 voter that contains the information required to be sub19 mitted with such ballot by the Presidential designee (other 

20 than information which the Presidential designee, in con21 sultation with the Election Assistance Commission and the 

22 Election Assistance Commission Board of Advisors under 

23 section 214 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 

24 U.S.C. 15344), determines, under regulations promulVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:45 Oct 02, 2008 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3073.RFH S3073

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1 gated by the Presidential designee, is not clearly necessary 

2 to prevent fraud in the conduct of elections).’’. 

3 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (f) of sec4 tion 102 of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens 

5 Absentee Voting Act, as amended by this subsection, 

6 shall apply with respect to each regularly scheduled 

7 general election for Federal office held on or after 

8 November 1, 2010. 

Passed the Senate October 1 (legislative day, September 17), 2008. 

Attest: NANCY ERICKSON, 

Secretary. 


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