Studies* have shown that, in 2006, only 25% of military and overseas voters who requested a ballot completed and returned one and 1/5 of all ballots cast by military service members were rejected. In 2008**, more than one in five (22%) of voters surveyed did not receive the official ballot they expected and nearly one-third (31%) of experienced overseas voters still had questions or problems when registering to vote. These terrible statistics at last have a chance of being reversed, thanks to an unprecedented initiative on the part of the Uniform Law Commission, perhaps best known for developing the Uniform Commercial Code. At its annual meeting in Chicago in July 2010, the Commissioners unanimously*** approved the new Uniform Military and Overseas Voters Act (UMOVA), bringing recent federal voting reforms down to state and local election level, removing some remaining barriers for UOCAVA (Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act) voters, and enfranchising some heretofore neglected U.S. citizens. Click here for the press release from the Pew Center on the States.
Click here to read the latest Bulletin on UMOVA.
Background:
In October 2009, the sweeping Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act was signed into law, bringing essential changes to the voting process for UOCAVA voters. Among other provisions, MOVE:
- allowed military and overseas voters to request and receive federal election materials (registration forms, blank ballots, election information) electronically (halving the time needed by many voters to get their ballots back to be counted.
- ensured that states send out ballots 45 days before a federal election so voters are sure to receive them in time.
- prohibited states from rejecting a marked ballot solely on the basis of a missing notary signature, paper size, and certain other restrictions.
There were some things MOVE did not do and in any event, it applied only to federal elections (President, Vice President, House of Representatives and Senate). One of the gaps most important, historically, to FAWCO was enfranchisement of young U.S. citizens who have not yet established residency in a state. The position advocated by FAWCO and its Overseas Americans Week partners has been to allow these citizens to vote at the address of their eligible U.S. citizen parent. At present, only 17 states explicitly allow this. We have always felt that young people subject to federal taxation and required to register with their embassies for Selective Service should not be disenfranchised as they now are in some states.
The process:
At the initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts’ “Make Voting Work” project, the Uniform Law Commission agreed in 2008 to examine the possibility of developing a uniform act for UOCAVA voters. After review of 1) the need for such legislation, 2) the size of the population affected, and 3) the potential for enactment in a majority of states, the ULC Study Committee approved the project. The timeframe was exceptionally short for the ULC, providing for a year and a half of drafting, with an initial reading before the Commission at its 2009 annual meeting and a hoped-for final reading in July 2010.
The Drafting Committee, chaired by ULC Commissioner Steve Wilborn of Kentucky, with its Reporter Steven Huefner from Ohio State University, included a wide range of Commissioners, some of whom were new to the UOCAVA voting process and others with extensive experience on state legislative councils, in a state Justice Department, as law professors and legal counsels, and as state election officials. It was assisted throughout by permanent advisors from the American Bar Association. FAUSA’s Dale Koepenick participated in the meeting of the Study Committee in Washington in 2008 and as FAWCO U.S. Liaison, I have had the honor of representing civilian overseas voters at two drafting meetings, in Portland and Minneapolis, and at the two readings in Santa Fe (2009) and Chicago (2010).
From the outset, the Committee was extremely open to comments and participation on the part of a wide variety of stakeholders: the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP), the State Department, the political parties, state and local election officials, the military postal service, and others; the voting experts from the Pew “Make Voting Work” project were represented at each of its meetings, as were FAWCO and its partner Overseas Vote Foundation; comments were welcomed from an even broader population as the various drafts were developed.
At their meeting on Wednesday, July 15, 2010, the Commissioners unanimously*** approved the Uniform Military and Overseas Voters Act.
Now that UMOVA has been approved, it must be taken to the states for enactment. This may be a protracted process but it is to be hoped that, given the stakes, it will be approved in a great number of states with high numbers of military and overseas voters, like Texas, California, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Georgia, Ohio or Massachusetts, in time to expand their right and ability to vote in the 2012 elections. This process will, of course, require active advocacy on the part of this population and, specifically, all members of the Alliance for Military and Overseas Voting Rights (AMOVR), of which FAWCO and FAUSA are members.
What UMOVA does:
As stated in the preamble to the Act, “Without uniform state legislation, military and overseas voters will continue to confront a panoply of diverging voting requirements, notwithstanding the important role that UOCAVA has played (…) for more than two decades and the additional enhancements (provided by) the MOVE Act of 2009.”
Covering all regular, special, primary and run-off elections on federal, state and local level, UMOVA will ensure that:
- voters will no longer be confused and daunted by the diversity in basic procedures that is so often the reason they are unable to vote and/or doubtful that their ballots are counted,
- voters will physically have time to receive and return their ballots for all elections, thanks to the 45-day requirement,
- they will be able to receive all voting materials electronically, and submit their registration/ballot request electronically, vastly reducing the time needed to complete the process from abroad,
- witness requirements will be eliminated, just as MOVE eliminated the notarization requirement (both imposed a serious burden on overseas civilian voters, in particular),
- use of the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot will be extended to all elections,
- requirements not needed to protect against fraud, such as a postmark, will be eliminated,
- voters will be notified of the receipt and current status of their ballot request and their ballot,
- and finally, young U.S. citizens who have not yet established residency in a state will not be disenfranchised.
FAWCO applauds the many voting rights champions who have made UMOVA possible: Pew’s visionary “Make Voting Work” advocates, the Uniform Law Commission and its brilliant Drafting Committee, the many stakeholders who participated in the process. In the words of several Commissioners, however, “now the work begins”, to seek enactment by the states. There should be no doubt that FAWCO will contribute in every way possible to that important effort.
Lucy Stensland Laederich, FAWCO U.S. Liaison
* “No Time To Vote” (Pew Center on the States)
** Overseas Vote Foundation 2008 Post Election Voter Survey
*** Of 50 states + the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, which are all members of the Uniform Law Commission, 5 states were absent and not voting and all present voted in favor.