Day 12: Absentee Voting – Countdown to November 3rd | Reflections on Voter Access

12 Days Remaining

In 1986, Congress enacted the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, more commonly referred to as UOCAVA. This act provides the legal basis for absentee voting for overseas citizens. What this means is that the right to vote is not suspended when citizens make the sacrifice to serve in the armed forces, or the decision to uproot their lives for a new job or adventure overseas. 

The UOCAVA applies to U.S. citizens who are active members of the Uniformed Services, the Merchant Marine, and the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, their eligible family members, and U.S. citizens residing outside the United States. 

According to numbers collected by the Federal Voting Assistance Program, there are an estimated 5.7 million U.S. citizens living overseas. Of those, about 2.9 million are eligible to vote. This is a significant number, and it is astonishing to think that these citizens were not provided the legal and logistical support needed for them to exercise their constitutional right to vote until 1986. Democracy requires representation, and missing 2.9 million votes could have significant effects on the reach of that representation. 

Even now, with the framework provided by the UOCAVA, the actual percentage of eligible voters that are returning their ballots is low. The same data from the FVAP found that in 2014, only 93,000 ballots were received, or 4% turnout from eligible voters.

Congress expanded the act significantly in 2009, when it passed the complementary Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE). MOVE made necessary amendments to the statutes put in place by the 1986 act, by providing greater protections and support to the citizens protected by UOCAVA. One of the most significant parts of the MOVE Act is the provision that requires States to send overseas voters their ballot at least 45 days before federal elections. Although the numbers compiled by FVAP seem discouraging, much progress has been made since UOCAVA and MOVE were passed. As of the 2016 election, the numbers have begun to climb significantly.

In a “Sense of Congress ” resolution made by both the Senate and the House, the commitment is made as such to UOCAVA voters:

“It is the sense of Congress that each person who is an administrator of a federal, State, or local election

1. should be aware of the importance of the ability of each uniformed services voter to exercise the right to vote; and should perform that person’s duties as an election administrator with the intent to ensure that:
   • each uniformed services voter receives the utmost consideration and cooperation when voting;
   • each valid ballot cast by such a voter is duly counted; and
   • all eligible American voters, regardless of race, ethnicity, disability, the language they speak, or the resources of the community in which they live, should have an equal opportunity to cast a vote and to have that vote counted.”

When those overseas put on their uniform, or change geographic location, they do not give up their rights as American citizens. The right to vote is not mutually exclusive from serving as a member of the uniformed services, nor does it get suspended if your address changes. It is absolutely imperative that our fellow citizens overseas know that they not only have the right to vote and participate in local and federal elections, but there are systems in place that ensure their ballot will be counted.