I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1997
To amend the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act to
increase the ability of absent uniformed services voters and overseas
voters to participate in elections for Federal office, and for other pur-
poses.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 24, 2001
Mrs. MALONEY of New York (for herself and Mr. REYNOLDS) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration
A BILL
To amend the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee
Voting Act to increase the ability of absent uniformed
services voters and overseas voters to participate in elec-
tions for Federal office, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Uniformed and Over-
seas Citizen Absentee Voting Reform Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
(1) Some 3,000,000 to 6,000,000 American
citizens, including 576,000 Federal employees and
their overseas dependents in the armed services and
in other Federal agencies, live permanently or tem-
porarily reside outside the 50 States and the District
of Colombia.
(2) Both the members of the armed services,
their dependents, other employees of the Federal
Government and their dependents, and the roughly
3,000,000 to 5,500,000 million other American citi-
zens abroad make an inestimable contribution to the
security, economic well-being, and cultural vitality of
the United States.
(3) Although great progress has been made in
recent decades in assuring that these citizens have
the chance to participate fully in our democratic
process, the national elections of November 2000 re-
vealed grave shortcomings in our system, with nearly
40 percent of overseas ballots rejected in one State
alone.
(4) Moreover, during these elections it became
apparent that timely information about the numbers
of American citizens seeking to vote and voting from
abroad, information which is essential to measure
the effectiveness of our overseas voting system, is
not currently provided by the States.
SEC. 3. SIMPLIFICATION OF VOTER REGISTRATION AND AB-
SENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION PROCEDURES
FOR ABSENT UNIFORMED SERVICES AND
OVERSEAS VOTERS.
(a) REQUIRING STATES TO ACCEPT OFFICIAL FORM
FOR SIMULTANEOUS VOTER REGISTRATION AND ABSEN-
TEE BALLOT APPLICATION; DEADLINE FOR PROVIDING
ABSENTEE BALLOT.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Section 102 of the Uni-
formed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act
(42 U.S.C. 1973ff–1) is amended—
(A) by amending paragraph (2) to read as
follows:
‘‘(2) accept and process, with respect to any
election for Federal office, any otherwise valid voter
registration application and absentee ballot applica-
tion from an absent uniformed services voter or
overseas voter, if the application is received by the
appropriate State election official not less than 30
days before the election;’’;
(B) by striking the period at the end of
paragraph (3) and inserting a semicolon; and
(C) by adding at the end the following new
paragraphs:
‘‘(4) use the official post card form (prescribed
under section 101) for simultaneous voter registra-
tion application and absentee ballot application; and
‘‘(5) transmit the absentee ballot for an election
to each absent uniformed services voter and overseas
voter who is registered with respect to the election
as soon as practicable after the voter is registered,
but in no case later than the 45th day preceding the
election (if the voter is registered as of such day).’’.
(2) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENTS.—Section
101(b)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff(b)(2) is
amended by striking ‘‘as recommended in section
104’’ and inserting ‘‘as required under section
102(4)’’.
(b) USE OF SINGLE APPLICATION FOR ALL SUBSE-
QUENT ELECTIONS.—Section 104 of such Act (42 U.S.C.
1973ff–3) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘SEC. 104. USE OF SINGLE APPLICATION FOR ALL SUBSE-
QUENT ELECTIONS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If a State accepts and processes
an official post card form (prescribed under section 101)
submitted by an absent uniformed services voter or over-
seas voter for simultaneous voter registration and absen-
tee ballot application (in accordance with section
102(4))—
‘‘(1) the voter shall be deemed to have sub-
mitted an absentee ballot application for each subse-
quent election for Federal office held in the State;
and
‘‘(2) the State shall provide an absentee ballot
to the voter for each subsequent election for Federal
office held in the State (in accordance with the dead-
line required under section 102(a)(5)).
‘‘(b) EXCEPTION FOR VOTERS CHANGING REGISTRA-
TION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply with respect to a
voter registered to vote in a State for any election held
after the voter notifies the State that the voter no longer
wishes to be registered to vote in the State or after the
State determines that the voter has registered to vote in
another State.
‘‘(c) NO EFFECT ON VOTER REMOVAL PROGRAMS.—
Nothing in this section may be construed to prevent a
State from removing any voter from the rolls of registered
voters in the State under any program or method per-
mitted under section 8 of the National Voter Registration
Act of 1993.’’.