The U.S. election system is highly decentralized and based upon a complex interaction of people (election officials and voters), processes, and technology. Voters, local election jurisdictions, states, and the federal government all play important roles in ensuring that ballots are successfully cast in an election. The elections process within the United States is primarily the responsibility of the individual states and their election jurisdictions. States have considerable discretion in how they organize the elections process and this is reflected in the diversity of processes and deadlines that states have for voter registration and absentee voting, including diversity in the processes and deadlines that apply to military voters. Each state has its own election system with a somewhat distinct approach. Within each of these 55 systems, the guidelines and procedures established for local election jurisdictions can be very general or specific. Even when imposing requirements, such as statewide voter registration systems and provisional voting on the states in the Help America Vote Act of 2002, Congress left states discretion in how to implement those requirements and did not require uniformity. Executive Order 12642, dated June 8, 1988, designated the Secretary of Defense or his designee as responsible for carrying out the federal functions under UOCAVA. UOCAVA requires the presidential designee to (1) compile and distribute information on state absentee voting procedures, (2) design absentee registration and voting materials, (3) work with state and local election officials in carrying out the act, and (4) report to Congress and the President after each presidential election on the effectiveness of the program’s activities, including a statistical analysis on UOCAVA voter participation. DOD Directive 1000.4, dated April 14, 2004, is DOD’s implementing guidance for the federal voting assistance program, and it designated the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (USD P&R) as responsible for administering and overseeing the program. For 2004, FVAP had a full-time staff of 13 and a fiscal year budget of approximately $6 million. FVAP’s mission is to (1) inform and educate U.S. citizens worldwide of their right to vote, (2) foster voting participation, and (3) protect the integrity of and enhance the electoral process at the federal, state, and local levels. DOD Directive 1000.4 also sets forth DOD and service roles and responsibilities in providing voting education and assistance. In accordance with the directive, FVAP relies heavily upon the military services for distribution of absentee voting materials to military servicemembers. According to the DOD directive, each military service is to appoint a senior service voting representative, assisted by a service voting action officer, to oversee the implementation of the service’s voting assistance program. The directive also states that the military services are to designate trained VAOs at every level of command to provide voting education and assistance to servicemembers and their eligible dependents. One VAO on each military installation should be assigned to coordinate voting efforts conducted by VAOs in subordinate units and tenant commands. Where possible, installation VAOs should be of the civilian rank GS-12 or higher, or officer pay grade O-4 or higher. In accordance with the DOD directive, commanders designate persons to serve as VAOs. Serving as a VAO is a collateral duty, to be performed along with the servicemember’s other duties. For the 2004 presidential election, FVAP expanded its efforts beyond those taken for the 2000 election to provide military personnel tools needed to vote by absentee ballot. FVAP distributed more absentee voting materials and improved the accessibility of its Web site, which includes voting information. Also, FVAP conducted 102 more voting training workshops for its VAOs than it did for the 2000 election. FVAP also provided an online training course for them. FVAP also designed an electronic version of the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot—an emergency ballot accepted by all states and territories—although its availability was not announced until a few weeks before the election. In assessing its efforts for the 2004 election, using data from its postelection surveys, FVAP attributed increased voter participation rates to an effective voter information and education program. However, in light of low survey response rates, FVAP’s estimates and conclusions should be interpreted with caution. In preparing for the 2004 election, FVAP distributed more absentee voting materials and improved the accessibility of its Web site. For the 2000 election, we reported that voting materials such as the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA)—the registration and absentee ballot request form for UOCAVA citizens—were not always available when needed. DOD officials stated that they had enough 2004 election materials for their potential absentee voters. Each service reported meeting the DOD requirement of 100 percent in-hand delivery of FPCAs to each servicemember by January 15. After the 2000 presidential election, FVAP took steps to make its Web site more accessible to UOCAVA citizens worldwide by changing security parameters surrounding the site. According to FVAP, prior to the 2004 election, its Web site was within the existing DOD “.mil” domain, which includes built-in security firewalls. Some overseas Internet service providers were consequently blocked from accessing this site because hackers were attempting to get into the DOD system. As a result, FVAP moved the site out of the DOD “.mil” domain to a less secure domain. In September 2004, FVAP issued a news release announcing this change and provided a list of Web site addresses that would allow access to the site. FVAP also added more election-related links to its Web site to assist UOCAVA citizens in the voting process. The Web site (which FVAP considers one of its primary vehicles for disseminating voting information and materials) provides downloadable voting forms and links to all of FVAP’s informational materials, such as the Voting Assistance Guide, Web sites of federal elected officials, and state election sites. It also contains contact information for FVAP and the military departments’ voting assistance programs. Although FVAP provided more resources to UOCAVA citizens concerning absentee voting, it is ultimately the responsibility of the voter to be aware of and understand these resources, and to take the actions needed to participate in the absentee voting process. For the 2004 election, FVAP increased the number of VAO training workshops it conducted to 164. The workshops were conducted at military installations around the world, including installations where units were preparing to deploy. In contrast, only 62 training workshops were conducted for the 2000 election. FVAP conducts workshops during years of federal elections to train VAOs in providing voting assistance. As an alternative to its in-person voting workshops, in March 2004 FVAP added an online training course to its Web site. This course was also available on CD-ROM. According to FVAP, completion of the workshop or the online course meets a DOD requirement that VAOs receive training every 2 years. Installation VAOs are responsible for monitoring completion of training. The training gives VAOs instructions for completing voting forms, discusses their responsibilities, and informs them about the resources available to conduct a successful voting assistance program. On October 21, 2004, just a few weeks prior to the election, FVAP issued a news release announcing an electronic version of the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot, an emergency ballot accepted by all states and territories. UOCAVA citizens who do not receive their requested state absentee ballots in time to meet state deadlines for receipt of voted ballots can use the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot. The national defense authorization act for fiscal year 2005 amended the eligibility criteria for using the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot. Prior to the change, a UOCAVA citizen had to be outside of the United States, have applied for a regular absentee ballot early enough to meet state election deadlines, and not have received the requested absentee ballot from the state. Under the new criteria, the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot can also be used by military servicemembers stationed in the United States, as well as overseas. On the basis of its 2004 postelection survey, FVAP reported higher voter participation rates among uniformed service members in its quadrennial report to Congress and the President on the effectiveness of its 2004 voting assistance efforts. The report included a statistical analysis of voter participation and discussed experiences of uniformed servicemembers during the election, as well as a description of state and federal cooperation in carrying out the requirements of UOCAVA. However, the low survey response rate raises concerns about FVAP’s ability to project increased voter participation rates among military servicemembers. We reported in 2001 that some absentee ballots became disqualified for various reasons, including improperly completed ballot return envelopes, failure to provide a signature, or lack of a valid residential address in the local jurisdiction. We recommended that FVAP develop a methodology, in conjunction with state and local election jurisdictions, to gather nationally projectable data on disqualified military absentee ballots and reasons for their disqualification. In anticipation of gathering nationally projectable data, prior to the election, FVAP randomly selected approximately 1,000 local election officials to receive an advance copy of the postelection survey so they would know what information to collect during the election to complete the survey. The survey solicited a variety of information concerning the election process and absentee voting, such as the number of ballots issued, received, and counted, as well as reasons for ballot disqualification. In FVAP’s 2005 report, it cited the top two reasons for disqualification as ballots were received too late or were returned as undeliverable. FVAP reported higher participation rates for military servicemembers in the 2004 presidential election as compared with the rate reported for the 2000 election. FVAP attributed the higher voting participation rate to an effective voter information and education program that included command support and agency emphasis.