FAWCO partner Overseas Vote Foundation has just released the results of its sixth post-election survey, launched on Election Day and continued through December 23, 2014. We are pleased that many FAWCO members participated in the survey and that OVF continues to provide FAWCO members, as it has since 2008, with advanced voting technology and up-to-date voter support.
While participation in the survey, like actual voter turnout, was significantly down in comparison with the 2012 presidential election, it nonetheless reveals some unsettling facts. The survey found a 5.4 increase in the number of respondents reporting that they were unable to complete all the steps in the overseas voting process as compared to survey results in 2010 and 2012, while 25% of respondents reported they had not received their ballot or had received it too late to vote.
In the wake of the landmark 2010 Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act, this seems to indicate not continuing progress but a regression in “voter empowerment”. Dr. Judy Murray, OVF Research Consultant, states: “This voting bloc has not been in the spotlight in recent election cycles as compared to the 2000 election cycle, and it is easy to become complacent. However, election officials, parties and key stakeholder groups should never lose site of the potential impact this group could have in influencing election outcomes in the U.S.”
Disturbing results include the fact that even today, 6.5% of respondents tried but could not use the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA). Among the reasons given, 29.2% gave “I thought I was still registered”. This points up an unexpected problem stemming from the MOVE Act’s elimination of a clause that defined the validity of the official FPCA voter registration/ballot request form for overseas and military voters as two General Election cycles. Since MOVE, voters must register again every year for all elections to be held in that year (and the validity of the FPCA varies significantly across election jurisdictions, meaning that some election officials interpret the ballot request as applying to even run-off and special elections in the calendar year, while others say voters should request ballots individually for each election). Voters do not know whether their FPCA form keeps them registered beyond one calendar year in their state or for one single election. And voters may move from the first kind of state to the second, and be caught unaware that they will not receive a ballot for a special election in the event of the death or resignation of a legislator.
Further problems include the fact that 29.7% missed the voter registration deadline in their state and 24.8% had technical difficulties in completing their form (14.6% still, today, found the form confusing).
In addition, 23.2% did not receive their official ballot and 45.5% were unaware of their ability to use the “emergency” FWAB (Federal Write-In Ballot) if their ballot did not arrive on time.
More than anything else, what these results point to is a lack of education: education of the overseas voter (which should not be the sole responsibility of overseas advocacy and political organizations) and of election officials (who should uniformly apply the “single election cycle” requirement, if it is to be maintained, across the board) and government itself (while the Federal Voting Assistance Program – FVAP - has made changes to the FPCA, it is clear that more are needed). And over 85% of respondents reported not using their state voter look-up tools which might have told them when the deadline was or that their registration or ballot had or had not been received.
FAWCO will continue to work with the FVAP, OVF and other advocacy organizations to try to improve the voting experience for what, in 2008, were estimated[1] at close to 5 million eligible overseas voters.
[1] Administering the Overseas Vote, Bruce E. Cain, Karin Mac Donald and Michael H. Murakami, Article first published online: 5 AUG 2008