III 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 388 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
SEPTEMBER 22 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 17), 2008 
Received 
OCTOBER 2 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 17), 2008 
Referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of Congress that the Department of 
Defense and the Federal Voting Assistance Program 
should take certain additional and timely measures to 
ensure that members of the Armed Forces and their 
dependents and citizens living overseas are provided with 
reasonable information on how to register to vote and 
vote in the 2008 general elections. 
Whereas members of the Armed Forces and their dependents 
deserve every reasonable opportunity to participate in the 
electoral process given their daily sacrifices to protect our 
liberty and freedom; 
Whereas Congress enacted the Uniformed and Overseas Citi-
zens Absentee Voting Act in part to ensure that members 
of the Armed Forces and their dependents and 
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citizens living overseas are provided with sufficient infor-
mation, opportunities, and balloting materials to foster 
their participation in Federal elections; 
Whereas the Election Assistance Commission found that less 
than 17 percent of the 6 million citizens eligible under 
the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting 
Act chose to participate in the 2006 general election; 
Whereas the Election Assistance Commission further found 
that of the 48,600 Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Ab-
sentee Voting Act ballots that were not counted by States 
and local jurisdictions in the November 2006 elections, 
70 percent were not counted due to incorrect or undeliv-
erable addresses; 
Whereas the Election Assistance Commission further found 
that more than 10 percent of all uncounted military and 
overseas absentee ballots were rejected because they were 
received past the required deadline; 
Whereas the Election Assistance Commission further found 
that more effort needs to be made by the States and the 
Department of Defense to ensure that members of the 
Armed Forces and their dependents and citizens living 
overseas are made fully aware of their voting rights; 
Whereas the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and 
Readiness and the Federal Voting Assistance Program 
are required to create and utilize a Federal Post Card 
Application that allows members of the Armed Forces 
and their dependents and citizens living overseas to use 
a single application to register to vote and request an ab-
sentee ballot; 
Whereas a survey conducted recently by the Inspector Gen-
eral for the Department of Defense analyzed the effec-
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tiveness of the Federal Voting Assistance Program dur-
ing the 2006 general election, and found that only 40 
percent of members of the Armed Forces received voting 
information from the military and only 33 percent were 
aware of the Federal Post Card Application; 
Whereas in April 2008 testimony before the Committee on 
House Administration revealed that the Department of 
Defense had not provided all members of the Armed 
Forces and their dependents with post card applications 
by the January 15, 2008, deadline as required by De-
partment policy, and that the Department has yet to 
comply with this requirement; and 
Whereas many of Department of Defense’s outreach efforts, 
including its Armed Forces Voter Week, are scheduled to 
occur 60 days before the November 2008 election, which 
may not provide members of the Armed Forces and their 
dependents or citizens living overseas with sufficient time 
to complete and return the Federal Post Card Applica-
tions: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) it is in the interests of the United States to 
ensure that the Secretary of Defense and the Fed-
eral Voting Assistance Program provide members of 
the Armed Forces and their dependents and citizens 
living overseas who are eligible under the Uniformed 
and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act with suf-
ficient information regarding opportunities to reg-
ister to vote and to request an absentee ballot for 
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elections occurring in 2008, including the November 
2008 general election; 
(2) the Secretary of Defense and the Federal 
Voting Assistance Program must, on a monthly 
basis starting September 22, 2008, and continuing 
on the first of each month through the November 
2008 general election, provide all eligible members of 
the Armed Forces and their dependents with an 
electronic reminder of the voter registration and ab-
sentee ballot process available under the Uniformed 
and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, and, as 
required by Department policy, provide all members 
of the Armed Forces and their dependents with an 
electronic or paper copy of the Federal Post Card 
Application, along with sufficient instruction on 
completing and returning the application to the ap-
propriate election official; 
(3) State and local election officials should work 
with the Federal Voting Assistance Program to de-
velop methods, consistent with privacy and security, 
for obtaining updated addresses and contact infor-
mation, if possible, for any member of the Armed 
Forces or dependent and any citizen living overseas 
who has been identified by the State or local election 
official as having an undeliverable ballot address; 
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(4) the Under Secretary of Defense for Per-
sonnel and Readiness should report to the Com-
mittee on House Administration of the House of 
Representatives, the Committee on Rules and Ad-
ministration of the Senate, and the Committees on 
Armed Services of the House of Representatives and 
Senate not later than October 15, 2008, on the ef-
forts made by the Department of Defense to— 
(A) educate members of the Armed Forces 
and citizens living overseas on the process of 
voter registration and absentee voting in the 
2008 general election, 
(B) provide all eligible members of the 
Armed Forces and their dependents and citi-
zens living overseas with the Federal Post Card 
Application to register to vote and cast absentee 
ballots in such election, and 
(C) cooperate effectively with State and 
local election officials in their efforts to register 
these individuals and distribute and collect their 
absentee ballots; 
(5) States must redouble their efforts to make 
sure that local jurisdictions collect the mandated in-
formation for individuals who are eligible under the 
Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting 
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Act, and should work in partnership with the Fed-
eral Government to develop best practices (including 
the use of electronic means) for encouraging voting 
participation among members of the Armed Forces 
and their dependents and citizens living overseas; 
and 
(6) the Department of Defense, the Federal 
Voting Assistance Program, the Election Assistance 
Commission, and State governments should examine 
recommendations made by the Election Assistance 
Commission in its September 2007 survey findings 
regarding the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Ab-
sentee Voting Act. 
Passed the House of Representatives September 17, 
2008. 
Attest: 
LORRAINE C. MILLER, 
Clerk. 
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