Ballots for military to be sent by e-mail

LITTLE ROCK — Military troops and civilians working overseas will receive absentee ballots for the Nov. 2 election by email this year under a new federal law that requires electronic transmission of local ballots to overseas voters beginning Sept. 18 - 45 days before the election.

The Military and Overseas Empowerment Act, known as the MOVE Act, was passed by Congress in 2008 as a way to ensure that overseas votes are cast and received in time to be counted. The act was written to go into effect for this year’s election.

“The most significant barrier to successful absentee voting is the late receipt of blank ballots, which leaves citizens without sufficient time to vote and return absentee ballots by mail. Uniformed service members, their families, and overseas citizens are challenged exercising their right to vote,” said Bob Carey, director of the Federal Voting Assistance Program, which ensures compliance with federal law for overseas voters.

In 2008, 91 percent of absentee ballots cast by stateside voters were returned in time to be counted compared with just 67 percent of overseas absentee ballots, according to Federal Voting Assistance Program data. There are about 1.5 million military troops stationed in bases around the world, including those in Iraq and Afghanistan, andan estimated 3 million civilians.

Overseas ballots must be received by county clerks no later than 10 days after the election to be counted. According to the Federal Voting Assistance Program, about 320,000 of the 1 million overseas absentee ballots for the 2008 General Election were not returned in time to be counted. Of those, about 23,500 ballots were lost in transit to the voter.

The MOVE Act is expected to solve some of those delivery problems by allowing ballots that include state and local races to be e-mailed to voters who apply for absentee ballots. The ballots still have to be printed out by the voter and mailed back to the county clerk, however, according to Carder Hawkins, director of elections for the Arkansas secretary of state.

Overseas voters can apply for local absentee ballots by printing out the application form at sos.arkansas.gov/military/ and mailing it back to the county clerk in their county of residence. Contact information for all 75 county clerks in the state can be found on that site as well. Those without Internet access can still have a paper form mailed to them. The majority of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have at least limited access to the Internet.

County clerks across the state will begin e-mailing absentee ballots to overseas voters on Sept. 18.

The Military Postal Service Agency recommends voters in Iraq and Afghanistan send ballots back at least 28 days before the election - Oct. 4 - and voters at other overseas locations send ballots back at least 21 days before the election - Oct. 11.

Arkansas is set to ship out ballots next week as applications arrive, Hawkins said. Eleven states filed for waivers that would give them more time to send out ballots but less time for voters to vote. Arkansas was not one of those states.

“We’re not sure how many [absentee ballots] will be requested this year, but during the 2008 General Election, Arkansas counties [sent] 6,515 ballots to [overseas] voters,” Hawkins said.

The 39th Infantry Brigade was deployed to Iraq at that time. The brigade has about 3,200 soldiers, not all of whom were registered voters. There are considerably fewer Arkansans deployed this year.

The Federal Voting Assistance Program contracted a private company to facilitate electronic transmission of ballots for the states. Only 19 states, including Arkansas, signed up for that Voting Wizard program. Arkansas has since decided to back out of the Wizard program.

“Recently the state learned that the vendor could not build an online ballot marking system given the time and resources required in order to have the feature operational by the general-election absentee ballot deadline,” Hawkins said. “Since the state has the capability to accomplish essentially the same objective, Arkansas decided not to use the service for MOVE compliance during the election cycle.”

The state created a verification process for overseas absentee ballots that includes identifying information cross referenced between the ballot application and voter registration.

Hawkins noted that emailed absentee ballots have been used in the state since 2005, when the Network of Arkansas Voters statewide registration program began.

“In working with the Federal Voting Assistance Program to make the e-mail addresses part of [absentee voter registration],” Hawkins said, “we will be able to increase the communication options which will allow voters in very remote areas to communicate with election officials back home in Arkansas.”