In Focus This Week
New report looks at overseas voting from election officials’ perspective
Participation increasing but changing addresses present continued challenges
By Kat Zambon
electionline.org
A newly-released survey of local election officials found that keeping track of voters – who often have moved within two election cycles – and frequently rejected ballots are the most significant problems they face when managing federal mandates on overseas balloting.
The Overseas Vote Foundation (OVF) released a report earlier this month detailing the responses of 690 election officials around the country as they described their experiences managing the mandates of the federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizen Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA). This law requires states to allow certain groups of U.S. citizens – military, their family members and citizens living abroad – to register and cast absentee ballots in federal elections.
While most election officials said they were satisfied with their compliance with UOCAVA, nearly 40 percent reported that keeping up-to-date mailing addresses over two federal election cycles is their biggest problem.
“We have received ballots back undeliverable that were in the system from February (for the March primary) and we finally received them back in December marked addressee unknown,” one respondent wrote.
Mail that never makes it to intended recipients is a common problem as well. Mail originating from election offices with ballots or other information being returned as “undeliverable” was considered a major problem by 65 percent of respondents.
Mobile overseas voters could be the root cause for many delivery problems, said one local election official. And that means the UOCAVA requirement that election officials continue to send ballots and other materials to registered overseas voters for two federal election cycles might not be effective in practice.
“We heard a consistent message through the survey responses that current legislation requiring [local election officials] to continue to send ballots to UOCAVA registrants over two federal election cycles does not translate well in its implementation in the field. There is too much movement in the UOCAVA population and the [local election officials] complain of wasted time and tax dollars in implementing this requirement,” Ray Martinez, OVF executive board chair said in a press release. “We hope that legislators will pay attention to these findings.”
Martinez, a former commissioner at the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, also serves as an advisor to The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Make Voting Work efforts.
While 58 percent of officials reported that they automatically sent ballots in 2006 to voters who registered in 2004 without the voter filling out a new form, less than 49 percent of officials in jurisdictions with less than 25,000 registered voters automatically sent ballots.
It isn’t only the election officials who are confused by the two federal elections rule. “It is hard for the voter to know what year they originally contacted us so they either think a ballot is automatically coming and if it doesn’t are too late to vote or they send us an updated application with a new address and we have already sent a ballot to the old address,” one official wrote.
Turnout, however, is growing despite the challenges.
Participation among overseas voters is increasing according to about half of the election officials surveyed, with 6.5 percent of officials reporting an increase of more than 10 percent. Twelve percent of election officials reported a decrease in overseas voting and 38 percent noted no change. The report attributes the change to an increased military presence abroad and more interest in electoral politics.
“OVF is definitely of the opinion that the number of active overseas and military voters will continue to rise,” Susan Dzieduszycka-Suinat, OVF president and CEO said. “OVF views such tremendous interest on both sides of the election equation – both the voters and the election officials – as the perfect environment for program improvements and growth.”
Election officials provided other information and input as well, that could shape future implementation of UOCAVA.
Though it wasn’t explicitly asked, elections officials volunteered in the survey that young overseas voters (ages 18-29) are more likely to experience problems with the UOCAVA voting process than other voters. Nearly 14 percent of precincts reported that younger voters experienced more problems according to Dzieduszycka-Suinat.
Nearly 69 percent of election officials said that the majority of UOCAVA voters use the federal post card application (FPCA) to register to vote or request an absentee ballot, though election officials in jurisdictions with fewer than 25,000 registered voters said that voters moving abroad frequently come to their offices for information on overseas voting before their move.
Election officials offered several tips to help with the process, such as adding a space on the FPCA for the voter’s expected return date and e-mail address. Almost 70 percent of officials allow voters to e-mail them with UOCAVA questions and some have taken to e-mailing ballots and return envelopes.
Officials also recommended taking a proactive approach to overseas voters by posting UOCAVA information on their Web site and contacting voters before ballots are sent out to ensure that addresses still work. One election official suggested giving those who apply for passports an absentee ballot request form
Dzieduszycka-Suinat said that OVF recommends that elections officials keep detailed records on ballots that are returned addressee unknown to report on cost estimates per election in sending ballots to voters who have moved. Developing a list of e-mail addresses for UOCAVA voters to confirm mailing addresses before the election is “a low cost, efficient best practice to implement towards solving this bad address problem,” she said
Citing her own experiences both as an elections administrator and a former UOCAVA voter, Pat Hollarn, Okaloosa County, Fla. elections supervisor and an OVF executive, said the survey results were about what she expected. Hollarn explained that most elections officials don’t have many UOCAVA voters in their precincts so they don’t pay much attention to the law.
The survey of election officials comes three months after a similar poll of voters by OVF. A February report found that 20 percent of overseas voters were unable to cast ballots in the 2006 election, some because ballots were late, never arrived, were not witnessed or notarized.
Editor’s Note: In April 2007, The Pew Charitable Trusts gave the Overseas Vote Foundation $100,000 in support of software development.
Election Reform News This Week
- Texas Democrats this week temporarily blocked consideration of proposed voter ID legislation in Austin, eliciting fist pounding, shouting and threats of ousters from the chamber. Tensions could remain high as Democrats hold just enough seats in the state senate to block debate. However, when Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-Austin, stayed home with the flu, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst (R) brought the bill up for consideration. According to the Houston Chronicle, that’s when the shouting (and the fist pounding) began. In the end, Uresti was able to leave his sick bed and return to the state capital just in time to prevent the legislation from coming forward for consideration. Dewhurst told the paper he would try to bring the legislation up again, but the session ends May 28.
- Pennsylvania held an election this week and reports from the field were mixed. In Allegheny County at least two court orders had to be issued to keep poll watchers and campaigners in line. Minor problems were reported in Centre County including a “glitch” that kept electronic voting machines from working for two hours in one precinct and several polling places that opened about 15 minutes late. Poll workers in Northampton County reported few or no problems with the county’s electronic voting equipment. Some voters in Blair County had to return to the polls several times after initial attempts were thwarted by a lack of working voting equipment. In Westmoreland County there were problems printing zero tapes, but election officials said that had no impact on the election. In the City of Philadelphia, some blind voters expressed frustrations at the length of time it took them to vote on new accessible equipment.
- Douglas County, Colo. plans to use high school students as election judges in the 2008 presidential election (Colorado does not hold primary elections for president). Although legislation approved in 2000 allowed students as young as 16 to work as election judges, Secretary of State Mike Coffman (R) told the Rocky Mountain News that it’s been a rarity to have teens working at the polls. “I’m really excited to see the result of this and I really think this a model for the rest of the state,” Coffman said. The students who volunteer to help with the election will receive credit toward their community service requirement for graduation.
- In the last 10 years or so, the number of registered voters in Marion County, Fla. has more than doubled and the reams of paper and amount of polling equipment necessary to meet the needs of the growing electorate has increased as well reported. Supervisor of Elections Dee Brown persuaded the county commission to look into purchasing a new building for the county’s election office. “Our voter rolls have grown, our precincts have grown, our equipment has grown and we have just basically outgrown our space,” Brown told the Star-Banner. “We are just in dire straits.” The commission voted 4 to 1 to approve expenditures for a new building in FY08.
Opinions This Week
National: Paper trails, Election-day registration, Electronic voting
California: Riverside County
Connecticut: System certification
Florida: Sarasota County
Hawaii: Holt bill
Indiana: Poll workers, II, Marion County, Vote centers, II, III, IV, V, League of Women Voters
Louisiana: Primary scheduling
Michigan: Young voters, Voter turnout, Cost of elections
Missouri: Voter ID
New York: Voting machines
North Carolina: Electoral College
Pennsylvania: Election-day changes, Why Tuesday?, Election history, VVPATs, Voting machines
Utah: Public information
Vermont: Young voters
Some sites require registration
Job Postings This Week
All job listings must be received by 12 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday for publication in our Thursday newsletter. Job listings are free but may be edited for length. Whenever possible, include Internet information. Please email job postings to mmoretti@electionline.org
Program Manager — U.S. Election Reform Project. American University’s Center for Democracy and Election Management (CDEM) seeks a Program Manager to direct its efforts to promote reform of the U.S. election system, including consideration and implementation of the recommendations of the Carter-Baker Commission on Federal Election Reform. CDEM aims to build understanding of the need for electoral reform among policymakers and the public, analyze election-related issues and propose new ideas to address them, and collaborate with election reform organizations in pursuit of reforms. The Program Manager will take the lead in developing and executing strategy, promote public discussion, organize conferences and other events, coordinate project activities with Commission members and CDEM staff, raise funds and serve as liaison with policymakers, media contacts, and election reform organizations. S/he will seek out funding sources to pursue these activities. This is a temporary position for 18 months, which will be extended if further funding becomes available. Qualifications: Candidates must have extensive knowledge of U.S. election issues or of elections in comparative perspective and excellent communications skills. They must also take the initiative and have the organizational skills to design and organize high-profile events and work well in a fast-paced environment. A minimum of 5 years of professional experience is required. Candidates must have a master’s degree; a Ph.D. is desirable. Candidates are encouraged to view the university’s outstanding benefits package on our Web site. To apply, complete an application in person or send your resume to: American University, Office of Human Resources, 4400 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20016-8054. e-mail:careers@american.edu. Fax: 202-885-1737.
Grant/Funding Opportunities
Help America Vote Act (HAVA) Training and Technical Assistance (T/TA) to Assist Protection and Advocacy Systems (P&As) to Establish or Improve Voting Access for Individuals with Disabilities. Department of Health and Human Services announces funds to provide T/TA to P&As to promote full participation in the electoral process for individuals with disabilities, including registering to vote, casting a vote, and accessing polling places. Eligible applicants include public and state controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, nonprofits, and faith- and community-based organizations. The deadline for applications is July 9, 2007. Approximately $330,000 is available to fund 4 awards. For further information, contact Melvenia Wright or visit their Web site.