    [House Hearing, 111 Congress]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

       HEARING ON MILITARY AND OVERSEAS VOTING: OBSTACLES AND POTENTIAL
                                   SOLUTIONS

    =======================================================================

                                    HEARING

                                   before the

                           SUBCOMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS

                       COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION
                            HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                         ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS

                                 FIRST SESSION

                                   __________

                      HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, MAY 21, 2009

                                   __________

          Printed for the use of the Committee on House Administration

                           Available on the Internet:
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                       Committee on House Administration

                    ROBERT A. BRADY, Pennsylvania, Chairman
    Zoe Lofgren, California              Daniel E. Lungren, California
      Vice-Chairwoman                      Ranking Minority Member
    Michael E. Capuano, Massachusetts    Kevin McCarthy, California
    Charles A. Gonzalez, Texas           Gregg Harper, Mississippi
    Susan A. Davis, California
    Artur Davis, Alabama
                     S. Elizabeth Birnbaum, Staff Director
                   Victor Arnold-Bik, Minority Staff Director
                                     ------

                           Subcommittee on Elections

                      ZOE LOFGREN, California, Chairwoman
    Charles A. Gonzalez, Texas           Kevin McCarthy, California
      Vice-Chairman                      Gregg Harper, Mississippi
    Susan A. Davis, California
    Artur Davis, Alabama

        MILITARY AND OVERSEAS VOTING: OBSTACLES AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS

                             Thursday, May 21, 2009

                      House of Representatives,
                             Subcommittee on Elections,
                             Committee on House Administration,
                                                        Washington, DC.
        The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:04 a.m., in
    Room 1539, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Zoe Lofgren
    [chairwoman of the subcommittee] presiding.
        Present: Representatives Lofgren, Davis, McCarthy, and
    Harper.
        Staff Present: Liz Birnbaum, Staff Director; Tom Hicks,
    Senior Election Counsel; Janelle Hu, Election Counsel; Jennifer
    Daehn, Election Counsel; Matt Pinkus, Professional Staff/
    Parliamentarian; Kyle Anderson, Press Director; Kristin
    McCowan, Chief Legislative Clerk; Daniel Favarulo, Legislative
    Assistant, Elections; Victor Arnold-Bik, Minority Staff
    Director; Peter Schalestock, Minority Counsel; Karin Moore,
    Minority Legislative Counsel; and Salley Collins, Minority
    Press Secretary.
        Ms. Lofgren. Good morning and welcome to the Committee
    House Administration Subcommittee on Elections hearing on
    Military and Overseas Voting: The Obstacles and Possible
    Solutions. This hearing is going to provide an opportunity for
    the committee to learn about the outreach efforts of the
    Federal Voting Assistance Program, the hurdles that military
    and overseas voters encounter when they are trying to vote from
    abroad, and possible policy recommendations to address these
    obstacles.
        In a letter to Congress in March of 1952, President Truman
    wrote, and I quote: ``The men and women who are serving their
    country and, in many cases, risking their lives deserve above
    all others the exercise in the right to vote.'' Unfortunately,
    nearly 60 years later, we are still struggling with the issue
    of military and overseas registration and voting.
        Members of the military and U.S. citizens who live abroad
    are eligible to register and vote under the Uniformed and
    Overseas Citizen Absentee Voting Act of 1986. Despite UOCAVA,
    it is clear that our military and overseas voters are not able
    to register and cast their ballots without numerous
    administrative burdens. Survey data from the Congressional
    Research Service suggests that one in four ballots from
    overseas military voters went uncounted in the 2008 election.
    That figure, coupled with reports from Democrats Abroad that
    roughly one in five overseas voters were unable to return voted
    ballots on time, is cause for great concern.
        The obstacles to having these ballots counted are varied,
    but the most common problems are: the delivery of election
    materials to UOCAVA voters, burdensome absentee ballot
    requirements, and varying State requirements and deadlines.
    While individual States are attempting to address these issues
    by allowing for electronic transmission of blank ballots or
    allowing ballots to be returned via fax or e-mail as well as
    extending registration deadlines, more needs to be done at the
    Federal level to address the issue.
        UOCAVA has produced major improvements, but more effort and
    resources are needed to ensure the Nation's military and
    overseas citizens can successfully exercise their right to
    participate in the American electoral process.
        In closing, I want to acknowledge Chairman Brady, who,
    along with the committee and Ranking Member, Mr. Lungren, are
    dedicated to removing these obstacles and ensuring that
    military and overseas voters can successfully cast their
    ballots; and I hope that this hearing is going to be a material
    important step forward in making this situation better.
        With that, I would recognize the ranking member of the
    subcommittee, Mr. McCarthy, for any opening statement he may
    have.
        Mr. McCarthy. Thank you Madam Chair. I appreciate your
    having today's hearing.
        Last Congress, we had a hearing as well, knowing that the
    voting procedures continue to fail thousands of military
    personnel overseas. I have an opening statement that I will
    submit for the record there, but I would just like to say that
    this has gone on too long. People have risked their lives for
    our liberties, and we have to do something about that. Record
    after record has shown the failure of the process of getting
    these ballots to the military men and women and actually
    getting it back and having their vote counted.
        I would like to ask the Chair if we could work together. I
    know there is a new CRS report that Senator Schumer has. It
    hasn't been shared with anybody else, but it goes along about
    the military voting and the failure process. I would like to
    see if we could get a copy of that as well to work together to
    make sure we solve this problem.
        And I thank you for the hearing.
        Ms. Lofgren. Thank you.
        And, without objection, your full statement will be made
    part of the record and the opening statements of other members,
    without objection, will also be made part of the record.
        [The statement of Mr. McCarthy follows:]

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        Ms. Lofgren. I would like to move now to the panel before
    us and to get their testimony, and then we will have an
    opportunity to ask questions.
        First, we have Ms. Gail McGinn. Ms. McGinn serves as the
    Acting Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness,
    and that oversees the Federal Voting Assistance Program. Prior
    to her appointment as Deputy Secretary in November of 2002, Ms.
    McGinn was Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for
    Force Management, Policy, and Principal Director for Personnel
    Support, Families, and Education. She received a bachelor of
    arts in psychology from William Smith College and her master's
    degree in education from Boston University.
        Next, we have Captain Patricia Garcia. Captain Garcia
    serves as the officer in charge of the 78th Aerospace Medicine
    Squadron, the public health flight at Robins Air Force Base in
    Georgia. In January of 2008, Captain Garcia was appointed the
    Robins Installation Voting Assistance Officer. During the 2008
    election, Captain Garcia directed 65 unit voting assurance
    officers who served nearly 4,000 military personnel and their
    dependents with voter registration and absentee voting
    questions. We thank you Captain Garcia for being here today and
    look forward to your testimony.
        Next, we have Mr. Rokey Suleman. Mr. Suleman currently
    serves as the General Registrar for Fairfax County, Virginia.
    Prior to his appointment in 2008, he was the Deputy Director of
    the Board of Elections in Trumbull County, Ohio. He is a
    certified election registration administrator through the
    Professional Education Program Certification Board at Auburn
    University in Alabama.
        And, finally, we have Ms. Jessie Duff, who is a retired
    gunnery sergeant in the United States Marine Corps. She has
    served on active duty in the Marine Corps for 20 years.
    Following her service, Ms. Duff now acts as a volunteer and
    spokesperson for Military Voting Rights USA, a national network
    dedicated to ensuring that military voters have their votes
    cast and counted. And we thank you, Ms. Duff, for being here
    today.
        We have a procedure here where the full statement of each
    of you will be made part of our official record. We ask that
    your oral testimony consume about 5 minutes, and at the
    conclusion of all of your statements we will have an
    opportunity to ask questions.
        That little machine in the middle of the table is a warning
    light. When the yellow light goes on, it means actually you
    have a minute to go on your 5 minutes. And when the red light
    goes on, it means--it always catches people by surprise that
    the whole 5 minutes is gone. I certainly won't cut you off in
    the middle of a sentence, but we would ask that you conclude
    when the light goes on so that everybody can be heard.

    STATEMENTS OF THE HONORABLE GAIL McGINN, ACTING UNDERSECRETARY
      FOR PERSONNEL AND READINESS, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE; CAPTAIN
     PATRICIA GARCIA, VOTING ASSISTANCE OFFICER, UNITED STATES AIR
       FORCE; ROKEY SULEMAN, GENERAL REGISTRAR, FAIRFAX COUNTY,
     VIRGINIA; AND JESSIE JANE DUFF, GUNNERY SERGEANT, USMC (RET.)

        Ms. Lofgren. So if we could begin with you, Ms. McGinn.

                 STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE GAIL McGINN

        Ms. McGinn. Thank you, Madam Chair, Congressman Harper, and
    distinguished members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the
    opportunity to testify about the obstacles service members and
    overseas voters may face in exercising their right to vote and
    the initiatives we have undertaken to solve those problems.
        I am joined at the table here today by Mr. Tom Bush. Mr.
    Bush is the Acting Director of the Federal Voting Assistance
    Program; and he can help answer any detailed questions you may
    have, in addition to me.
        The Department is dedicated to making the absentee voting
    process easier and more straightforward. Time and distance,
    mobility, and varying State requirements are barriers that make
    the absentee voting process difficult for service members,
    their families, and U.S. citizens who live outside the United
    States.
        First is the obstacle of time and distance. The process to
    register to vote, request an absentee ballot, and return the
    marked ballot for UOCAVA voters can be much more daunting than
    for voters who live in the same location as where they vote.
    While there have been extraordinary efforts to expedite the
    movement of voting material through the postal system, time and
    distance create challenges, particularly in areas where mail
    service is minimal, intermittent, or nonexistent. Peace Corps
    workers, submariners, forward-deployed service members, to a
    name a few, may be most affected.
        An important solution to the time and distance problem is
    leveraging technology. Technology can significantly reduce the
    time constraints and eliminate the distance problem for most
    UOCAVA voters.
        For the 2010 elections, the Federal Voting Assistance
    Program is pursuing the next generation of electronic tools to
    assist these voters. We call this initiative the Automated
    Register, Request, and Receive Ballot Process, or R3. R3 will
    expand on our previous tools by adding an online capability to
    complete the Federal write-in absentee ballot and expand and
    enhance the ability of election officials to transmit blank
    ballots. Unlike our previous initiatives, this system will be
    owned and operated by DOD and hosted at DOD facilities, thus
    mitigating potential threats to personal privacy data and
    permitting easy refinements and expansion in the future.
        The next obstacle is mobility. Military and overseas voters
    are a dynamic group. Where they are located today may not be
    where they will be located for the next election. We know where
    military members are assigned and reside. Therefore, it is
    easier to encourage them to notify their State election
    official of their current address. To facilitate this, each
    military service reports that when military members arrive at a
    new duty station, they are provided with a voter registration
    card so they can notify their State election official of their
    new address.
        Further, we have forged and maintained valued partnerships
    with State and local election officials who carry out the
    elections, the United States Postal Service, the Military
    Postal Service Agency, the Department of State, the Department
    of Justice, other Federal agencies and overseas citizen
    organizations and advocacy groups.
        The Federal Voting Assistance Program uses a network of
    voting assistance officers both from the military and the
    Department of State. We have an extensive training program to
    prepare voting assistance officers to perform their duties. You
    will shortly hear from an actual voting assistance officer who
    can describe her work.
        Finally and most importantly is the challenge of varying
    State requirements. The 55 States and territories administer
    their elections differently. This means that registration
    procedures, ballot distribution procedures, voted ballot return
    regulations and deadlines are determined by a large number of
    independent jurisdictions, each jurisdiction with its unique
    requirements.
        We work with the States to promote passage of legislation
    that is uniform among all States for UOCAVA citizens. The
    legislative initiatives we encourage States and territories to
    enact include providing at least 45 days between ballot mailing
    date and the date ballots are due, giving chief State election
    officials the authority to alter election procedures in
    emergency situations, providing a State write-in absentee
    ballot to be sent out 90 to 180 days before all elections, and
    expanding the use of electronic transmission alternatives for
    voting materials. There have been successes with 47 States
    adapting one or more of these initiatives.
        In conclusion, we know that each UOCAVA voter has a unique
    set of circumstances and that one solution is not right for
    everyone. Providing them with as many alternatives as possible
    to register to vote, request a ballot, and return the ballot
    will help each voter find the solution that works best for him
    or her.
        I would like to thank the committee for your continued
    support of our service members, their families, and our
    overseas citizens and all you have done to make it easier for
    them to vote. I look forward to answering your questions.
        Thank you.
        [The statement of Ms. McGinn follows:]

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        Ms. Lofgren. Thank you very much.
        Captain Garcia, we would love to hear from you.

                  STATEMENT OF CAPTAIN PATRICIA GARCIA

        Captain Garcia. Good morning, Chairwoman Lofgren, Ranking
    Member McCarthy, and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for
    the opportunity to testify today on behalf of the Robins Air
    Force Base Voting Assistance Program.
        I was appointed as the Robins Installation Voting
    Assistance Officer in January, 2008. The Robins Voting
    Assistance Program supports the voting needs of the Warner
    Robins Air Logistics Center, the 78th Air Base Wing, and over
    30 associate units representing six major commands. I direct
    the activities of the Robins Voting Assistance Program
    Committee and 65 unit voting assistant counselors who have
    served over 4,000 military members and their dependents with
    voter registration and absentee voting questions.
        Before I proceed, I would like to emphasize that I can only
    speak to our Voting Assistance Program at Robins Air Force Base
    in Georgia.
        Our responsibilities at the base level are to educate and
    assist military members and their dependents on how to register
    to vote and how to actually cast their vote. We are mandated
    not to pressure any individual to register or vote nor to
    discourage such actions. Our position as voting counselors has
    no authority to provide any legal advice concerning change of
    residency laws, nor to resolve conflicts between members and
    their local registration or voting officials. Military members
    with these types of problems are referred to either the local
    legal office or to the Voting Assistance Program hotline.
        According to established guidance, unit commanders appoint
    a minimum of one unit voting assistance counselor per 100 unit
    members for a total of 65 counselors for Robins Air Force Base.
    These unit counselors were appointed in writing and were
    required to complete their initial voting counselor training by
    means of the Federal Voting Assistance Program Web site online
    workshop.
        In July, 2008, we also held an informational meeting to
    enhance the online training. A detailed discussion was held
    concerning their requirements, responsibilities, and different
    methods that could be employed to accomplish these
    requirements. Numerous resource materials were distributed to
    counselors, including standardized briefings that could be used
    at commander's call or e-mailed directly to their unit members.
        Between August and September, the unit counselors educated
    the Robins Air Force Base populace on the Voting Assistance
    Program, the Federal Voting Postcard, voter registration
    deadlines, and how to vote absentee.
        We focused our educational efforts more heavily during Air
    Force Voter Week and Air Force Absentee Voter Week in September
    and October, respectively. This included articles in the base
    newspaper, posters, reminders on the base electronic
    billboards, and various other high-visibility items. Early
    voting in Georgia for locally registered members was highly
    publicized during the Air Force Absentee Voter Week in October.
        Our program is not limited to the election season. Other
    instructional activities provided by the Robins Voting
    Assistance Program include monthly briefings used to introduce
    and explain the purpose of the Voting Assistance Program to
    first-term airmen and base newcomers. Static voting assistance
    displays with motivational posters, election dates, Federal
    postcard applications, and informational pamphlets are kept
    stocked and current at the base library, military personnel
    office, and at the Base Exchange.
        One last activity I would like to discuss is voting
    assistance services provided to our deployers. Prior to
    deploying at Robins Air Force Base, members are required to
    attend a pre-deployment fair. During this fair, we distribute
    the Robins Voting Assistance Program informational tri-fold.
    Our hope is that these deployers will reference this pamphlet
    and know where to get help with voting questions while
    deployed.
        The biggest challenges faced by the Robins Voting
    Assistance Program were primarily caused by factors outside of
    our control. The voter registration process is not standardized
    from State to State, not even county to county in some States.
    This lack of consistency makes learning how to properly fill
    out the Federal voting postcards very confusing and difficult.
        These Federal voting postcards are primarily filled out by
    hand and therefore at times can be difficult to read. Talking
    to different airmen at Robins, I learned that sometimes this
    illegibility factor cause the postcards to be returned to the
    member by the Postal Service. In at least one instance, the
    member reported information was input incorrectly by a
    registration clerk, which led to disqualification questions
    when the member went to vote. Several members were initially
    denied registration because the voter registration clerks did
    not know the laws pertaining to military residency. The
    variable deadlines for registration and absentee voting
    confused several military members who thought because the
    Georgia deadlines had passed it was too late to register or
    send in their absentee ballot even though their home States had
    later deadlines.
        As an American military voter, I would personally like to
    express my gratitude to all the members of this committee for
    your concern and your assistance in our effort to vote and be
    counted. I look forward to answering your questions concerning
    the Robins Air Force Base Voting Assistance Program.
        [The statement of Captain Garcia follows:]

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        Ms. Lofgren. Thank you very much.
        Mr. Suleman, we would love to hear from you.

                       STATEMENT OF ROKEY SULEMAN

        Mr. Suleman. Good morning, Madam Chair, and distinguished
    members of the committee.
        Military and overseas voters encounter significant
    obstacles when it comes to exercising their right to vote. The
    distance a ballot must travel and the short timeframe in which
    it has to travel creates problems that the average American
    voter does not face.
        I have great sympathy for these absentee voters. The first
    vote I ever cast was an absentee ballot in Navy boot camp.
    Although I was medically discharged soon afterward, the
    experience left a definite impression about the importance of
    absentee and military voting.
        Changes have been made to make it easier for military and
    overseas voting citizens to enjoy their franchise. But, given
    today's technology, these changes are not enough.
        The U.S. Postal Service has created a system to help
    election officials disseminate ballots to overseas voters.
    Green tags such as these are now available to mark trays of
    absentee ballots to expedite delivery. APO and FPO ballots are
    sent to three centers based on zip code. They are sent to
    either New York, Miami, or San Francisco. These changes help
    separate time-sensitive absentee mail from the regular flood of
    mail that the USPS processes on a daily basis.
        However, many election officials do not know these extra
    tools are available to them. Education of election officials
    across the country may be needed to help alleviate this
    problem.
        In Fairfax County, my office issued 8,623 UOCAVA ballots
    during the November, 2008, general election. Out of those 8,623
    ballots, 7,332 were returned, a rate of 85 percent.
        A significant reason for the high rate of return of our
    overseas ballots has to be attributed to the fact that Virginia
    allows ballots to be e-mailed to UOCAVA voters. In November of
    2008, 3,483 of our ballots were sent via e-mail. By utilizing
    e-mail, we dramatically shorten the time it takes for UOCAVA
    voters to receive their ballots. This, in turn, allows the
    voter greater time to return their ballot to us. This extra
    time is especially important for military voters in a war zone.
        During the last legislative session, Virginia expanded the
    use of e-mail balloting to include any military voter in the
    United States as well as overseas. I believe it is the first
    step towards allowing election officials to e-mail a ballot to
    anyone outside the borders of the Commonwealth. I will welcome
    that advancement.
        A natural extension of this benefit would be to allow
    voters to return their vote to an office of elections
    electronically. Currently, a Virginia voter must print their e-
    mail ballot, fill it out, and return it via the mail or a
    commercial delivery service. This may be problematic for
    military voters in a war zone or civilians in remote areas of
    the world. Allowing electronic transmission of a ballot to an
    office of election will be of great help to our overseas
    voters.
        Virginia faces a significant problem regarding the Federal
    write-in absentee ballot. State law required an address from a
    witness if the FWAB was used simultaneously as an application
    for an absentee ballot and a ballot. The FWAB, and only under
    this specific requirement, was the only absentee ballot in
    Virginia that required this extra information from a witness.
    Only after a late opinion by the Attorney General that the
    statute was in conflict with Federal law were we able to accept
    the ballots without that information.
        This is an example where a State may put up extra barriers
    to UOCAVA voters. Although the intention of these laws may be
    noble, the fact remains that these laws erect significant
    barriers to many citizens for participating in our most basic
    right.
        The time in which a ballot is available also creates a
    problem for overseas voters to timely receive a paper ballot.
    The Code of Virginia requires offices of elections to have a
    ballot at least 45 days prior to any November general election,
    30 days prior to any other general, special, or primary
    election, or as soon after the deadline as possible in the case
    of a special election when the deadline is unavailable to be
    met. Virginia is fortunate enough to have the time available to
    deliver the ballots in a general election. States that have
    mid-September primaries may not have that luxury for a November
    general election. The time it takes to certify the election,
    then create and print paper ballots may push a jurisdiction
    well into the 30 days prior to an election. That is not enough
    time to process, send, and return a paper ballot for a UOCAVA
    voter.
        In Fairfax County, my office will have held five elections
    in the first 6 months of this year, three of which were special
    elections called with a short amount of lead time. Special
    elections provide the best example of the drastic need to
    improve our ability to deliver ballots to our UOCAVA voters.
        For our February special election, my office issued 5,918
    absentee ballots. 3,352 of those ballots were UOCAVA voters. Of
    those, 1,431 were e-mailed. Only 281 UOCAVA ballots were
    returned for this election, a rate of 19.6 percent.
        Our March special election there were only 35 days between
    the dates. There was no way we could get a ballot to an
    overseas voter in time unless it was transmitted
    electronically. We e-mailed 139 UOCAVA ballots and mailed 214.
    Thirty UOCAVA ballots were returned, a rate of 8 percent.
        If our office only had the ability to send ballots overseas
    via regular mail, I can guarantee you that our return rate
    would be significantly less. Virginia is a good example that
    electronic transmission of ballots works and should be used for
    any UOCAVA voter that requests it.
        Not all of this dismal return rate can be attributed to the
    difficulty of receiving and returning ballots. Most of these
    voters received ballots to an election that they had no idea
    was occurring. We assume that some ballots were just deleted or
    thrown away. But every week we still receive one or two ballots
    from an overseas voter for one of our elections. We recently
    received a ballot for the November general election. We have no
    idea why these ballots take so long to arrive to our office,
    but they do.
        I thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today and I
    look forward to answering any questions.
        [The statement of Mr. Suleman follows:]

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        Ms. Lofgren. Thank you very much.
        And we will turn to our final witness, Ms. Duff. Thank you
    so much for your testimony.

                   STATEMENT OF MS. JESSIE JANE DUFF

        Ms. Duff. Good morning, Chairwoman Lofgren, Ranking Member
    McCarthy, and members of the committee. Thank you for letting
    me testify today.
        I served in the United States Marine Corps for 20 years and
    retired rather recently; and while I was on active duty I will
    express that I was stationed overseas on four separate tours in
    Okinawa, Japan. Doing this time overseas is very, very
    difficult. The Marine Corps is a very, very unique force. It's
    an expeditionary force. It essentially is not in contact with a
    lot of the United States during the times that they are
    overseas.
        Many civilians may find it very hard to grasp their lack of
    capability to stay in contact. There is no Blackberry. There is
    no iPhone. Even if the technology is with you, it doesn't
    necessarily work overseas. So you are very limited. You do not
    have Internet access, as many people seem to assume that the
    technology will be a quick solution. Often while you are in the
    field you are not out there in a 9 to 5 workday. You are out
    there for weeks. You are out there for months. And often
    getting access to any type of Internet usage is not possible
    for you.
        Our access to voting information during my time while on
    active duty was very, very limited. I did not get approached
    but one time while on active duty by a voting officer to get
    registered to vote; and, unfortunately, I wasn't even stationed
    overseas. I was at Camp Pendleton, California.
        Military members are often disenfranchised for several
    reasons. The reality is that there isn't the information
    accessible to them while they are on forward deployment, even,
    often, when they are in a situation on a normal base that you
    would expect to see more support.
        April 15 is Tax Day. Two months prior to your taxes being
    due, throughout every military installation for two months they
    help you get your taxes done. And then there is a CFC campaign
    where military members are able to volunteer to donate money.
    Guess what? They provide mandatory briefings for everybody so
    that they can donate to CFC. Whether they choose to or not is
    up to them. But yet there aren't mandatory briefings on
    registration processes, and the teams that are available are so
    limited that you don't have readily access to information
    available.
        The most important thing that can happen now for military
    members to get their vote counted--and I am talking about the
    immediate near future, not long term--would be an express mail
    delivery service. And the reason that I feel that this is so
    important is, right now, the technology isn't available to the
    military.
        We do have a unique opportunity as military members with a
    CAC card. The CAC card is your military ID card. The military
    ID card allows you to go into any computer system, and it
    automatically identifies who you are. For the future, it would
    be incredible that a military member can have a voting station
    set up wherever they are at, slide their card. Their ballot is
    signed into wherever that their home or record is, and they get
    their absentee ballot, and they are able to fill it out, and
    then they can express mail it back. But, right now, we don't
    have that system available.
        So there are a lot of ideas out there that we need the
    training and we need the opportunity for military members to
    actively register.
        But in order to get those ballots back on time is probably
    the most critical question right now. A delivery time of 4 days
    means that military ballots can be cast on a Friday afternoon.
    A military man or woman overseas can say, I'm casting my ballot
    today; it is going to be counted by Tuesday. That is an
    incredible feeling when you are in the military. To have to
    cast your ballot 30 days out and not really know how the turn
    of the election is going to go is a very disturbing thought for
    many of us on active duty.
        An overseas military voter can judge candidates on the full
    period of election. As we all know, things do pop up right
    before election time. A delivery time of 4 days with express
    mail, not 3 weeks, will increase turnout because interest in
    elections is highest near the end of the election. You know, to
    force a military member to get actively, aggressively involved
    and there really hasn't been a lot of the interest going until
    that last few weeks is very difficult for them, also.
        Express mail will reduce the need for faxed ballots, which
    can honestly force a military member to lose the integrity of
    their ballot. You don't know who will see that fax. You don't
    know who will witness it.
        Military mail often doesn't have a postmark. This is
    another thing a lot of people don't recognize. MPS does not
    necessarily postmark your mail. So if we say we can accept it 3
    weeks after, how do we know that it was cast before the
    election? We don't. So it is critical. With express mail, you
    are able to see a postmark on that. Four days over 3 weeks of
    delivery is a critical element for military people. An express
    mail delivery time of 4 days, not 3 weeks, would ensure far
    fewer military voters will be disenfranchised and ballots
    arriving late. Express mail would maintain secrecy of the
    ballot, ensure public confidence, which the public does not
    have a lot of confidence in some of the technology right now,
    and military voters will have their ballots counted.
        I respectfully appreciate the opportunity to testify this
    morning, and I am open for any of your questions at this time.
        [The statement of Ms. Duff follows:]

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        Ms. Lofgren. Thank you very, very much for your testimony;
    and thanks to all of the witnesses for all of your testimony
    and statements.
        Now is the time when we can follow up with our questions,
    and I would turn first to the ranking member to begin our
    question period.
        Mr. McCarthy. Thank you, Madam Chair.
        I appreciate all the testimony today. I found it very, very
    intriguing.
        Just one quick question to Mr. Suleman. You did bring up--I
    remember the issue about military absentee ballots in your
    jurisdiction, believe that you had to have a witness. Even
    though if you voted absentee and you lived there, you did not
    have to have a witness, and you brought that up in your
    testimony. Was there any jurisdiction in Virginia that
    interpreted it the same way that you guys did?
        Mr. Suleman. There were several jurisdictions in Virginia
    that chose to ignore the law that----
        Mr. McCarthy. So they didn't interpret it the same way you
    did.
        Mr. Suleman. No. They interpreted the law correctly, and
    the Secretary of the State Board of Elections interpreted the
    law that way, but they were choosing to ignore the law.
        In Fairfax County, we felt that we don't have the ability
    to ignore the law. We don't like the law. We brought the law to
    everybody's attention before the election. So this was going to
    be a significant problem and only by the Attorney General's
    opinion saying that the law was in conflict were we able to
    accept those ballots.
        Mr. McCarthy. Did you go back and count those ballots?
        Mr. Suleman. All of those ballots were counted. That is
    correct.
        Mr. McCarthy. Ms. Duff, thank you for your testimony. I
    found it very intriguing especially from--one, for your service
    that you provided for 20 years, for all of the service that you
    provided.
        But you made some very interesting comments, to me. I mean,
    we look at how do we solve the system today in the best manner
    that we can and in the future even improve it? Some of the
    testimony talked about the Internet and stuff and real-life
    experience that you gave that you don't have the option for
    that. And you talked about express mail, which I happen to put
    in a bill and that does the express mail in the 4 days.
        But when we talk about this issue, we talk about military
    voting and we talk about overseas voting; and it always gets
    lumped together. But in your testimony you brought a lot of
    attention to me that the different hardships if you are in the
    military could be much different than if you are just a citizen
    overseas. And if you could explain and maybe elaborate a little
    more, the difference, and should they be treated different?
    Because, right now, it doesn't seem that they are being treated
    differently.
        Ms. Duff. Military members are sent overseas not
    necessarily out of choice. They are sent there by the Federal
    Government, and they will ensure that they serve their duty
    over there. They are going to be subjected to, usually, long
    periods away from their families. There are often enduring
    circumstances in the field operations that do not offer
    facilities that most people would experience who are civilians
    overseas. The hardships are very, very difficult.
        And I am not even talking about combat operations. Keep in
    mind I served in field operations that were not combat related.
    We trained explicitly for combat, and we duplicated combat
    conditions, but I wasn't in a combat situation. My mail was
    delayed constantly. I mean, I remember getting vacation
    postcards after my mother got home a month earlier. So that was
    quite interesting.
        But those may be humorous examples, but when you are
    talking about an election, military members do not have the
    choices that a lot of their civilian counterparts have. You are
    talking 7-day workweeks, often. And sometimes you go to sleep
    literally to get right up and go back into your post.
        Mr. McCarthy. Another point that you brought up that was
    very intriguing to me is you have got Tax Day, you have got
    CFC. That is Combined----
        Ms. Duff. Combined Federal Campaign.
        Mr. McCarthy. The campaign. Those are mandatory, but you
    had no mandatory when it came to voting assistance within
    there?
        Ms. Duff. I wouldn't say that the tax offices that they set
    are mandatory. What they do, though, is about 2 to 3 months
    prior to your taxes being due, they set up offices throughout
    the base to assist people with taxes. And the teams are
    trained. Not just one officer. You are trained on basically
    submitting State and Federal taxes.
        Now, those tax laws get pretty complicated, I would assume,
    too. So, obviously, voting laws can be something that they can
    be trained in, and I think there should be facilities that are
    easily accessible for military members to acquire. Not only
    when they come onto base do they get registered with that CAC
    card. That CAC card is a guaranteed signature that this is a
    real person. They can utilize that.
        But, also, the Federal absentee write-in ballot, that has
    been around since 1986. I never heard of it while I was on
    active duty, not once.
        One of the members--one of my friends who served in Iraq on
    his third tour told me that he had not received his absentee
    ballot on time. He had to pull himself out of the field, found
    the Internet, found a Federal write-in ballot, and never heard
    of it himself, and got his ballot cast on time.
        Now, with express mail, you get the Federal write-in ballot
    mailed in, or you can get your absentee ballot write-in. I
    mean, 2010 is right around the corner. I think we have got to
    have a quick solution and then we can work on some of these
    technology issues so they are proficient and good for the rest
    of the population.
        Mr. McCarthy. One thing, when you said express mail, you
    talked about they don't even postmark your mail. So we wouldn't
    know--that would give Mr. Suleman difficulty of knowing when it
    was mailed or if you could count it in time when the election
    is over.
        So, one, we are putting a burden upon you currently the way
    the system is? But if you had a tracking system, with express
    mail you could track each ballot so you would know where it was
    at and where it was coming from. Would you find that as
    something that would be helpful in----
        Ms. Duff. Absolutely. Military members often feel like they
    are going into a big abyss when they cast that ballot. They
    don't know that it even gets there.
        The reality is, with express mail, we are going to go from
    3 weeks to 4 days. And it sounds like there have been times
    when it has been longer than 3 weeks, sometimes 4 or 5 weeks.
    That is an undue burden on a military member to ensure that
    they get that ballot in the mailbox on time.
        Express mail can happen. I have seen many things happen in
    the military. When they are told to do it, they do it. And they
    can get those express mail forms filled out Friday, and it is
    counted on Tuesday, and everything is on time, and States don't
    have to modify their laws now.
        Ms. Lofgren. The gentleman's time has expired.
        I would turn to the gentlelady from California, Mrs. Davis,
    for her questions.
        Mrs. Davis of California. Thank you, Madam Chair; and thank
    you all for being here and for your service as well.
        I am glad that my colleague brought up the tracking system,
    because we are working together on a bill that would allow
    voters overseas--military voters, of course--to do this. There
    are several States that already have it, and even in our area
    in San Diego there were something like 98,000 voters who
    checked our online system to see where their ballots were. So
    we think that's very, very valuable; and you mentioned, Ms.
    Duff, that that would be helpful.
        Let me just see if I could ask others as well if this would
    make a difference. One of the things that was mentioned is that
    you can't always have access to the Internet, but still the
    tracking would be helpful, and would that be----
        Ms. Duff. Well, you can always--eventually, you will have
    access to the Internet. So it is not something that--
    eventually, you can go back and see that your vote was counted.
    And I am not saying all military is unable to use the Internet.
    But even if you could go back a week after you come out of the
    field and say, yea, my vote counted.
        Mrs. Davis of California. Could the rest of you respond in
    terms of the ability of voters to track their ballot and how
    helpful that would be?
        Ms. McGinn. I think it would be very helpful. I think you
    are back to the situation where the States treat--have
    different rules about electronic transmission and what they
    pass back and forth, and so you are back to struggling with how
    do you get States to do that as a whole.
        I think that Ms. Duff raises an interesting point and one
    of the things that we talk about which is that nobody's
    situation is the same. And so some people need to send their
    ballot; some people can fax their ballot. In some cases, they
    can actually transmit their ballot electronically. So we need
    to cover all those bases somehow, which is a challenge of the
    programs. But that would be my sense, that it would be good to
    be able to track it.
        Mrs. Davis of California. I think even thinking about a
    tracking system, being able to do it online but also an 800
    number would be included in that legislation.
        Captain Garcia. Thank you, ma'am. I think it would be very
    satisfying for military members to know that their vote is
    counting and it doesn't get lost in the abyss.
        The only thing I would like to add is we are only talking
    about our overseas where there are still a lot of military
    members here in the States who feel like their vote doesn't
    count. So the only thing I would ask--I don't know the
    specifics of the legislation, if it's also going to include
    absentee within the U.S., not just our overseas members.
        Mrs. Davis of California. Yes, absolutely. That is the
    whole idea, yes. Countrywide and I guess overseas, so that is
    global, right?
        Mr. Suleman. From an election administrative standpoint, I
    would truly welcome an online ability to check the status of
    your absentee ballot. We do have something like that in
    Virginia, and anything that can take the burden of phone calls
    away from our office during the last 30 days of an election to
    help us prepare for everything that we have to have to do is a
    welcome advancement.
        The tracking for express mail would also be a significant
    help to us if we can determine when a ballot was put into the
    mail in the first place. That way we don't have to worry about,
    you know, attempting to check postmarks.
        In Ohio, my previous jurisdiction, we were able to accept
    absentee ballots up to 10 days after the election as long as
    they were postmarked; and we also received a directive from the
    Secretary of State that if we could not determine a postmark,
    if there was not a postmark, we have to assume it was mailed
    prior to the election. So we at least open up a window to allow
    a little bit more ballots to be accepted.
        In Virginia, unfortunately, all absentee ballots have to be
    received by my office by the close of election day. That's a
    significant impediment to collecting overseas ballots. I would
    welcome a standard uniform rule where any overseas ballot would
    be accepted within a 10-day or a 5-day window, whatever that
    window is selected to be, but at least a window after the
    election so that we can get a little bit more of these ballots
    counted.
        Ms. McGinn. We actually have some experience with tracking,
    I hear, so if I could just turn to my colleague, Mr. Bush, for
    a minute.
        Mr. Bush. I think it is just important to note for the 2008
    election we did work with the United States Postal Service and
    not in every region, but we did use a tracking system where
    they had the technology. They were in the process of doing
    that. So they were putting a bar code on the ballots so we
    could track them coming back.
        We also used express mail the last week of the election to
    expedite mail coming back, working with the Postal Service.
        And one of the comments that was made is that the military
    postal service doesn't postmark material. In fact, the Postal
    Service for balloting material, they were issued a postmark so
    they could postmark every ballot so we could identify and track
    when it was received into the system.
        Mrs. Davis of California. Thank you.
        Can you all think of any reason why we shouldn't do that?
        It sounded pretty unanimous to me.
        Okay, thank you very much, Madam Chair. I actually have a
    few other questions if there is another round, but, otherwise,
    I want to thank you all.
        Ms. Lofgren. All right. The gentleman from Mississippi, Mr.
    Harper.
        Mr. Harper. Thank you for being here today.
        It is a great concern we have to make sure that the votes
    of our men and women in the military are counted. Do any of you
    think that those that are in uniform overseas should be treated
    differently than just civilians who are overseas in the
    process?
        Ms. Duff. I do.
        Mr. Harper. Why do you think they should be treated
    differently?
        Ms. Duff. Because of the conditions they have to endure
    that most of your civilians who choose to be overseas are not
    enduring. Military members are sent there by the Federal
    Government, and the Federal Government should be responsible
    for ensuring that their vote is counted, and the conditions
    that they are under do not allow that normally.
        Mr. Harper. So extra attention and extra effort to make
    sure that those are properly cast.
        Ms. Duff. Absolutely. They are there in service of their
    country, sir.
        Mr. Harper. And I know they seem to always be lumped
    together in these requirements. So, Ms. McGinn, I would love to
    have your views on that.
        Ms. McGinn. I expect that--I guess maybe I am thinking of
    the State Department now specifically or industry, but I
    suspect that our military members probably tend to be younger
    and maybe away from home for the first time. And so, therefore,
    I think we need to be very assertive in getting the word out to
    them, as Ms. Duff said.
        We try to use every possible way to get the word out to
    people about voting. Our senior leaders have commented, you
    know, they go into our deployed areas and everywhere they look
    as election approaches, there are banners and posters and it is
    hard to not see them. But I think that the fact that they are
    younger and they don't have as much experience perhaps really
    does mean we need to do a very, very proactive effort, outreach
    effort to them.
        Mr. Harper. Now, the Department of Defense knows what the
    declared state of permanent residence is of every member of the
    military, do they not? They would have that information
    somewhere within their files, whether they were----
        Ms. Duff. Yes.
        Mr. Harper [continuing]. From Texas or whatever State.
    Would that be correct?
        Mr. Bush. If I can answer that.
        Mr. Harper. Yes.
        Mr. Bush. We know what their home of record is. We know
    where they are currently stationed. That may be different than
    where they register to vote.
        So, right now, in fact, I am exploring with our Privacy Act
    folks if there is a way that we can get the place where they
    are registered to vote. There are some concerns. I have got to
    work through that. But that would be helpful then if we could
    target where they are registered to vote. Because in our
    business that is what really matters.
        Mr. Harper. And I know we are talking about many, many
    people, but if you had that in the system where their declared
    voter residency was and then there was a change of duty, is
    that something that you could envision that the DOD could
    notify then of a new or a change of address for them for that
    purpose?
        Mr. Bush. What we could do when we--that is part of the
    privacy concern, is what we share with the States. But if we
    had that information we could push information to that
    particular member, just like we have somebody that checks in a
    new duty station, but we could push that information to the
    members, reminding them that they need to register to vote,
    they need to change their location when they do change that.
        If I could just point out one thing that you were talking
    about, the difference between military and civilians stationed
    overseas. There is a difference, I think, but you also have to
    think of people like Peace Corps workers who may be in remote
    locations that may have the same sort of hardships that some
    military members experience.
        So we have to--you can't just separate, I think, the two
    into two distinct groups. We have to think holistically, but an
    extra effort in the military and those that are in remote
    locations clearly is an area that we need to focus on.
        Mr. Harper. Certainly we appreciate what those in the Peace
    Corps do, but it is a little different for those who are in
    uniform who put their lives on the line in combat situations.
    Is there any problem giving them preferential treatment to make
    sure that we don't miss those opportunities to cast those
    ballots?
        Mr. Bush. No, sir. I am not saying we should not make every
    effort to keep our military informed and help them in the
    voting process, no.
        Mr. Harper. Captain Garcia, if I could ask you, is there
    any voter registration card or information that when somebody
    comes to your base and gets information that perhaps could be
    used to help them in that process?
        Captain Garcia. Yes, sir. As I mentioned in my statement,
    when people come in, we continue our continuous education
    instruction. We have monthly briefings for first-term airmen
    and newcomers to the base. Anybody who comes into the base will
    have to go to either one of those venues. At that point, we do
    have a brief and our counselors are trained to help them
    actually fill out their Federal Voting Assistance Program.
        Also, as I mentioned, we have the static displays that are
    located at the MPF, the BX, and the library. So as you are
    walking by you can see the large displays; and if you have any
    questions, the pamphlets can direct you to your unit counselor
    to help you fill those.
        Mr. Harper. Is there any follow-up to monitor who has
    filled those out and who has not?
        Captain Garcia. We are not allowed to do that, sir.
        Mr. Harper. Okay. Thank you very much. That's all the
    questions I have.
        Ms. Lofgren. The gentleman yields back.
        I think this has been very helpful. And as I think about
    the testimony here today, it strikes me that we need to do
    everything, not choose among alternatives. For example, as Mr.
    Bush has said, we have got people who are in remote areas in
    the Peace Corps, in the CIA, in the military, I mean, in the
    State Department, USAID, who have different constraints; and
    then we have people, Americans, who are in the State
    Department, but they are in London, and the challenges are
    going to be different.
        So I think that the use of technology, the use of priority
    mail, I mean, those are all good things. And whatever we do, we
    need to make sure that they are all approached so that we can
    serve everybody.
        In terms of the military, I mean, we have got--2 years ago,
    nearly 46,000 of our American military were noncitizens. So we
    need to make sure--I like the military ID card, but not
    everybody with a military ID card is eligible to vote because
    they are not an American citizen. So we can use that, but there
    needs to be another level of assurance on that.
        I am interested, Mr. Suleman, on the Internet issue.
    Because for some voters abroad or even military within the
    United States, for example, New York. New York has a September
    primary. I guess that is up to them, but it makes it very
    difficult to mail out--it is almost impossible to mail out a
    ballot to Iraq and get it back with a September ballot. So the
    Internet example I think is very attractive to me, and
    certainly the use of the Internet has exploded even since you
    were in the military in 2004. A friend of mine was just
    deployed to Iraq. He has a blog. So I mean really the Internet
    is exploding.
        What kind of security do you have? That's the question we
    always get what about the security if we use the Internet? I
    always think I feel secure enough when I do my banking on line,
    but what would you recommend when somebody worries about the
    integrity of the system?
        Mr. Suleman. The security of an Internet e-mail ballot to
    me would be almost the same as the security, as long as it is
    sent on a secure server, the same as security for a regular
    absentee ballot. There is some thought that people lose the
    secrecy of the ballot when they would potentially e-mail a
    ballot. The same thing exists when you submit any sort of
    absentee ballot, because an election official has to separate
    that ballot from that identification envelope, and at that
    particular moment there is a potential to identify a vote to a
    voter.
        I do believe that we should start looking for more e-mail
    and Internet solutions. I mean, you said about your banking. I
    pay all my utility bills online. I buy concert tickets online.
    I buy pizza online. I do my banking online. I really don't see
    why we cannot, you know, afford people the ability to both
    receive and submit a ballot online. There are secure methods to
    transmit material over the Internet, and we do it all the time,
    and I really don't see why we can't do that for our ballots for
    overseas citizens.
        Ms. Lofgren. Ms. McGinn, what do you think about the
    Internet option? What are the constraints that you see?
        Ms. McGinn. I think it is a very valuable option. I mean,
    we have deployed in Iraq right now Internet cafes for the
    troops who are over there so that they have access to Internet
    sites.
        What we are trying to do with our next step in technology
    is to create the secure environment and to expand the use of
    the Internet for receiving a ballot, maybe someday submitting a
    ballot. I think, as we said before, it's an option that's very
    important. Someday we will probably all do it.
        Of course, there are security issues involved; and we are
    awaiting some advice from the Elections Assistance Committee
    and NIST on what we would need to do to create a secure
    environment for voting. But we have had several initiatives in
    that way, and I think it is important for us to continue to
    pursue them.
        Ms. Lofgren. I will just say I know that NIST is the expert
    on all of these technologies. We are blessed in the United
    States to have that government entity that is so nerdy and so
    on top of this stuff. So we will look to them for good advice.
    But I think that this has been an important first step.
        Obviously, we want to make sure that the men and women who
    are American citizens have every chance to vote and to know
    that they have the right to vote, but also our Peace Corps and
    everybody has got a right to vote, has that chance to go ahead
    and exercise that franchise. So I think this has been
    enormously helpful.
        We will be holding open this hearing for 5 legislative days
    to allow for additional questions; and if we do have them, we
    will forward them to you and ask that you answer them as
    promptly as possible.
        I think we had a few requests for testimony to be
    submitted, and I would ask unanimous consent that the following
    documents be made part of the official record: a statement from
    Democrats Abroad, a statement from the Uniform Law Commission;
    a statement by Dr. Alec Yasinsac; a statement by Everyone
    Counts; a statement by FAWCO, AARO, and ACA; a statement by
    PEW; a statement by OVF; a statement by FairVote; and a
    statement by Congressman Rush Holt. And, without objection,
    those statements will be made part of the record.
        [The information follows:]

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        Ms. Lofgren. We will now be in adjournment with tremendous
    thanks to you for your wonderful testimony in helping us move
    forward on this enormously important issue.
        [Whereupon, at 10:57 a.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]