[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 22 (Thursday, February 15, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1522-S1524]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ALLARD (for himself and Mrs. Hutchison):
  S. 381. A bill to amend the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee 
voting Act, the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief act of 1940, and 
title 10, United States Code, to maximize the access of uniformed 
services voters and recently separated uniformed services voters to the 
polls, to ensure that each vote cast by such a voter is duly counted, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on Rules and Administration.
  Mr. ALLARD. Mrs. President, the bad taste left in everyone's mouth 
after the Florida election debacle is certainly strongest in those who 
had their franchise questioned while, incredibly, they were away 
serving our country. Military men and women are forced to give up some 
opportunities during their military service that the rest of us can 
still enjoy. They surrender some of the freedom of speech, privacy and 
personnel liberty that we take for granted. But losing their right to 
vote is never something they agreed to face, and never something we 
should allow them to face.
  The bill I am introducing today with Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, 
the Military Voter Support Act, enhances the voting ability of absentee 
military voters in six key ways. This bill will help us ensure that we 
will not see the repeat of campaign lawyers scrutinizing military 
ballots in a partisan attempt to silence their voice.
  I know that I was not the only one who felt outrage over this. My 
office received a flood of calls and letters from Colorado citizens 
equally upset. I hope this bill proves to our uniformed voters that we 
not only value their service, we value their voice, and we value their 
right to vote.
  The language applies to service members, their spouses, and voting 
age dependents who are necessarily absentee with them.
  The bill prohibits a state from disqualifying a ballot based upon 
lack of postmark or witness signature alone--this was the basis for 
most absentee ballot challenges in Florida. Technical faults beyond the 
control of the voter should not endanger their ballot.
  The bill secures the voting residence of a military voter as they 
travel on orders. It prevents a repeat of the 1997 Texas lawsuit 
challenging future intent of residency.
  It will allow polling places to be operated on military installations 
to serve military voters and others at the discretion of the 
appropriate service Secretary. The law against this was revived and 
enforced by the Clinton Administration for the 2000 elections.
  There is a Catch-22 for military voters who are discharged and move 
before an election but after the residency deadline. They cannot vote 
through the military absentee ballot system. Yet sometimes they are not 
able to fulfill deadlines to establish residency in a State. This bill 
allows them to use the proper discharge forms as a residency waiver and 
vote in person at their new polling site.
  Given the technologies available to us, it should be possible for the 
military to devise and run an efficient and reliable electronic voting 
program. The bill calls for a demonstration program during the 2002 
elections of a possible electronic voting system for the 2004 
elections.
  After each election the Pentagon Federal Voting Assistance Program 
makes recommendations to each state on ways to improve the voting 
ability of absentee voters by state statute changes. This bill brings 
more attention to bear on these improvements--and hopefully generates 
more state legislature interest--by requiring the states to report on 
their implementation of these suggestions to the Secretary of Defense. 
I believe this mild requirement upon a state will raise the profile of 
these fixes, and facilitate in-depth discussion and study by the 
states. And that will, in turn, only serve to improve military absentee 
voting.

[[Page S1524]]

  I sincerely hope that military members understand that we in the 
Congress are as outraged as they are about the problems they 
experienced in voting. This bill is a way to attack those problems. 
With it, I hope the 2002 election and every one following is a far 
better demonstration of our democracy and the value we place on the 
right to vote.
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