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| Long title | An Act to consolidate and improve provisions of law relating to absentee registration and voting in elections for Federal office by members of uniformed services and persons who reside overseas. |
|---|---|
| Nicknames | Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of 1986 |
| Enacted by | the99th United States Congress |
| Effective | August 28, 1986 |
| Citations | |
| Public law | 99-410 |
| Statutes at Large | 100 Stat. 924 |
| Codification | |
| Titles amended | 42 U.S.C.: Public Health and Social Welfaretransferred to52 U.S.C.: Voting and Elections |
| U.S.C. sections created | 42 U.S.C. ch. 20, subch. I-G § 1973ff et seq.transferred to52 U.S.C. §§ 20301–20311 |
| Legislative history | |
| |
TheUniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), P.L. 99-410,52 U.S.C. §§ 20301–20311,39 U.S.C. § 3406,18 U.S.C. §§ 608–609, is aUnited States federal law dealing withelections andvoting rights forUnited States citizens residing overseas. The act requires that allU.S. states, theDistrict of Columbia,Puerto Rico,Guam,American Samoa, and theU.S. Virgin Islands allow certain U.S. citizens toregister to vote and to vote byabsentee ballot infederal elections.[1] The act isPublic Law 99-410 and was signed into law byPresidentRonald Reagan on August 28, 1986.[2]
Groups of people covered under the act are:
The act provides for an emergency back-up ballot, theFederal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB), which can be cast by voters who "have made a timely application for but have not received their regular ballot from the state or territory, subject to certain conditions."[1] Postage is free for UOCAVA registrations and ballots, including FWAB.[3]
The act does not apply to non-federal elections, although most states also let citizens covered by the UOCAVA register and vote in state and local elections.[4][5] Before 1986 there had been some access to voting from abroad, but it varied.[6]
TheFederal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP), part of theDepartment of Defense, is the program that administers the UOCAVA as well as theNational Voter Registration Act of 1993 on behalf of the Secretary of Defense.[4] The FVAP states its goals as to "inform and educate U.S. citizens worldwide of their right to vote; facilitate voting participation; and protect the integrity of, and simultaneously enhance, the electoral process at the Federal, State and local levels."[4]
UOCAVA lets uniformed service members request absentee ballots as early as they wish in an election year.[7] Any time after that request they may send theFederal Write-In Absentee Ballot from outside the US,[8] so they can vote even if they are on extended missions without communication, if they can send it from outside the US.
UOCAVA lets covered groups get ballots electronically (email, fax, or web site) from all states. Some statestransmit ballots electronically to other groups.
Twenty states require ballots to be returned by mail.[9]
Four states allow ballot submission through secure web sites: AZ, CO (if needed), MO, and WV. In 2019-2020 researchers found insecurities in online voting systems used for UOCAVA from Voatz[10][11][12] and Democracy Live.[13][14]
The four states allowing online voting and the remaining 27 states have a mix of rules allowing email or fax to return ballots:[9] AK, CA, DE, DC, FL, HI, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MA, MS, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NC, MD, OK, OR, RI, SC, TX (for danger, combat zones or space),[15][16] UT, and WA.[9]
Maine andRhode Island tabulate all votes cast in elections based on rules set out by UOCAVA in a single total at the bottom of the states official election result reports (such reports are officially posted in acsv file structure document) instead of separately tabulating such votes in the same category as all other votes cast in their home towns.
Anexecutive order issued by President Reagan on June 9, 1988, designated theSecretary of Defense as the presidential designee responsible for administering the act and authorizes the Secretary of Defense to delegate the responsibilities under the act and executive order to any person or persons within the Department of Defense.[17] Department of Defense directives issued by Secretaries of Defense have delegated responsibilities for the FVAP to a FVAP director. The current director as of November 2020 is David Bierne.
The act was amended by theHelp America Vote Act (2002)[2] and theNational Defense Authorization Acts in 2002[2] and 2005.
The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act allows U.S. citizens to vote from overseas, even if they have permanently left the United States. Since these citizens are no longer residents of aU.S. State but maintain their right to vote, legal scholars have therefore argued thatUnited States Congress also has the authority to grantvoting rights to residents of theDistrict of Columbia.[18]
The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act has also been challenged in federal court by U.S. citizens living inPuerto Rico. Plaintiffs in the case ofIgartua de la Rosa v. United States claimed that the Act isunconstitutional because it allows U.S. citizens who move abroad to vote infederal elections, but not if they relocate to Puerto Rico. The challenge was dismissed by the courts.[19] However, in his dissent, JudgeJuan R. Torruella argued that theUnited States Constitution neither denies citizens of Puerto Rico the right to vote for members of theUnited States House of Representatives nor imposes a limitation on the federal government's authority to extend federal voting rights to territorial residents under other constitutional powers.[20]
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