SEC. 4. REMOVING BARRIERS TO ACCEPTANCE OF COM-
PLETED BALLOTS.
Section 102 of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens
Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff–1) is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before
‘‘Each State’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section:
‘‘(b) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS REGARDING ACCEPT-
ANCE OF COMPLETED BALLOTS.—
‘‘(1) MANDATORY
MINIMUM
PERIOD
FOR
AC-
CEPTANCE OF ABSENTEE BALLOT AFTER DATE OF
ELECTION.—Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, a State may not refuse to count an absentee
ballot submitted in an election for Federal office by
an absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter
on the grounds that the ballot was not submitted in
a timely manner if—
‘‘(A) the ballot is received by the State not
later than 14 days after the date of the elec-
tion;
‘‘(B) the ballot is signed and dated by the
voter; and
‘‘(C) the date provided by the voter on the
ballot is not later than the day before the date
of the election.
‘‘(2) PROHIBITING REFUSAL OF BALLOT FOR
LACK OF POSTMARK.—A State may not refuse to
count an absentee ballot submitted in an election for
Federal office by an absent uniformed services voter
or overseas voter on the grounds that the ballot or
the envelope in which the ballot is submitted lacks
a postmark if the ballot is signed and dated by the
voter and a witness within the deadline applicable
under State law for the submission of the ballot
(taking into account the requirements of paragraph
(1)).’’.
SEC. 5. OTHER REQUIREMENTS TO PROMOTE PARTICIPA-
TION 
OF 
OVERSEAS 
AND 
ABSENT 
UNI-
FORMED SERVICES VOTERS.
Section 102 of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens
Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff–1), as amended
by section 4, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new subsection:
‘‘(c) OTHER REQUIREMENTS AND PROHIBITIONS.—
‘‘(1) RESPONSE TO SUBMITTED MATERIALS.—
‘‘(A) APPLICATIONS FOR VOTER REGISTRA-
TION AND ABSENTEE BALLOT REQUEST.—With
respect to each absent uniformed services voter
and each overseas voter who submits a voter
registration application or an absentee ballot re-
quest, the State—
‘‘(i) shall immediately notify the voter
as to whether or not the State has ap-
proved the application or request; and
‘‘(ii) if the State rejects the applica-
tion or request, shall provide the voter with
the reasons for the rejection.
‘‘(B) ABSENTEE BALLOTS.—With respect
to each absent uniformed services voter and
each overseas voter who submits a completed
absentee ballot, the State—
‘‘(i) shall immediately notify the voter
as to whether or not the State has received
the ballot; and
‘‘(ii) if the State refuses to accept the
ballot, shall provide the voter with the rea-
sons for refusal.
‘‘(2) USE OF FACSIMILE MACHINES AND INTER-
NET.—Each State shall make voter registration ap-
plications, absentee ballot requests, and absentee
ballots available to absent uniformed services voters
and overseas voters through the use of facsimile ma-
chines and the Internet, and shall permit such voters
to transmit completed applications and requests to
the State through the use of such machines and the
Internet. Nothing in this paragraph may be con-
strued to prohibit a State from accepting completed
absentee ballots from absent uniformed services vot-
ers and overseas voters through the use of facsimile
machines.
‘‘(3) PROHIBITING
NOTARIZATION
REQUIRE-
MENTS.—A State may not refuse to accept any voter
registration application, absentee ballot request, or
absentee ballot submitted by an absent uniformed
services voter or overseas voter on the grounds that
the document involved is not notarized.
‘‘(4) COMPILATION OF STATISTICS.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For each election for
Federal office held in the State, each State
shall compile and publish the following informa-
tion with respect to absent uniformed services
voters and overseas voters:
‘‘(i) The number of voter registration
applications received from each such group
of voters, together with the number of such
applications which were rejected by the
State and the reasons for rejection.
‘‘(ii) The number of absentee ballots
sent to each such group of voters.
‘‘(iii) The number of completed absen-
tee ballots submitted by each such group of
voters, together with the number of such
ballots which were rejected by the State
and the reasons for rejection.
‘‘(B) BREAKDOWN
BY
LOCAL
JURISDIC-
TION AND OVERSEAS LOCATION.—In compiling
and publishing the information described in
subparagraph (A), the State shall break down
each category of such information by county (or
other appropriate local election district) and by
the locations to which and from which the ma-
terials described in such subparagraph were
transmitted and received.
‘‘(C) TRANSMISSION
TO
PRESIDENTIAL
DESIGNEE.—With respect to information re-
garding a Presidential election year, the State
shall transmit the information compiled under
this paragraph to the Presidential designee at
such time and in such manner as the Presi-
dential designee may require to prepare the re-
port described in section 102(6).’’.
SEC. 6. ADDITIONAL DUTIES OF PRESIDENTIAL DESIGNEE.
(a) EDUCATING ELECTION OFFICIALS ON RESPON-
SIBILITIES UNDER ACT.—Section 101(b)(1) of the Uni-
formed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (42
U.S.C. 1973ff(b)(1)) is amended by striking the semicolon
at the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, and ensuring
that such officials are aware of the requirements of this
Act;’’.
(b) DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARD OATH FOR USE
WITH MATERIALS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 101(b) of such Act
(42 U.S.C. 1973ff(b)) is amended—
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para-
graph (5);
(B) by striking the period at the end of
paragraph (6) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(C) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(7) prescribe a standard oath for use with any
document under this title affirming that a material
misstatement of fact in the completion of such a
document may constitute grounds for a conviction
for perjury.’’.
(2) REQUIRING
STATES
TO
USE
STANDARD
OATH.—Section 102(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C.
1973ff–1(b)), as amended by section 3(a), is further
amended—
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para-
graph (4);
(B) by striking the period at the end of
paragraph (5) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(C) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(6) if the State requires an oath or affirmation
to accompany any document under this title, use the
standard oath prescribed by the Presidential des-
ignee under section 101(b)(7).’’.
(c) TRANSMISSION OF FEDERAL WRITE-IN ABSEN-
TEE
BALLOT
THROUGH
FACSIMILE
MACHINES
AND
INTERNET.—Section 103 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff–
2) is amended—
(1) by redesignating subsections (b) through (f)
as subsections (c) through (g); and
(2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol-
lowing new subsection:
‘‘(b) TRANSMISSION
OF BALLOT THROUGH FAC-
SIMILE MACHINES
AND INTERNET.—The Presidential
designee shall make the Federal write-in absentee ballot
and the application for such a ballot available to overseas
voters through the use of facsimile machines and the
Internet, and shall permit such voters to transmit com-
pleted applications for such a ballot to the Presidential
designee through the use of such machines and the Inter-
net.’’.
(d) PROVIDING BREAKDOWN BETWEEN OVERSEAS
VOTERS AND ABSENT UNIFORMED SERVICES VOTERS IN
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF VOTER PARTICIPATION.—Sec-
tion 101(b)(6) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff(b)(6)) is
amended by inserting after ‘‘participation’’ the following:
‘‘(listed separately for overseas voters and absent uni-
formed services voters)’’.
SEC. 7. GRANTING PROTECTIONS GIVEN TO ABSENT UNI-
FORMED SERVICES VOTERS TO RECENTLY
SEPARATED UNIFORMED SERVICES VOTERS.
The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Vot-
ing Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff et seq.) is amended by inserting
after section 104 the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 104A. COVERAGE OF RECENTLY SEPARATED UNI-
FORMED SERVICES VOTERS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this Act, an in-
dividual who is a separated uniformed services voter (or
the spouse or dependent of such an individual) shall be
treated in the same manner as an absent uniformed serv-
ices voter with respect to any election occurring during
the 60-day period which begins on the date the individual
becomes a separated uniformed services voter.
‘‘(b) SEPARATED UNIFORMED SERVICES VOTER DE-
FINED.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section, the term
‘separated uniformed services voter’ means an indi-
vidual who—
‘‘(A) is separated from the uniformed serv-
ices;
‘‘(B) was a uniformed services voter imme-
diately prior to separation;
‘‘(C) presents to an appropriate election of-
ficial Department of Defense Form 214 show-
ing that the individual meets the requirements
of subparagraphs (A) and (B) (or any other of-
ficial proof of meeting such requirements); and
‘‘(D) is otherwise qualified to vote with re-
spect to the election involved.
‘‘(2) UNIFORMED SERVICES VOTER.—In para-
graph (1), the term ‘uniformed services voter’
means—
‘‘(A) a member of a uniformed service on
active duty; or
‘‘(B) a member of the merchant marine.’’.
SEC. 8. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO STATES FOR COSTS OF
COMPLIANCE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Presidential designee under
the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act
shall make a payment to each eligible State for carrying
out activities to comply with the requirements of such Act,
including the amendments made to such Act by this Act.
(b) ELIGIBILITY.—A State is eligible to receive a pay-
ment under this section if it submits to the Presidential
designee (at such time and in such form as the Presi-
dential designee may require) an application containing
such information and assurances as the Presidential des-
ignee may require.
(c) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
are authorized to be appropriated for the first fiscal year
which begins after the date of the enactment of this Act
such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section,
to remain available until expended.
SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The amendments made by sections 3, 4, 5, 6, and
7 shall apply with respect to elections occurring after the
date of the enactment of this Act.
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