[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 62 (Monday, April 1, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19465-19466]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-07486]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Office of the Secretary

[Docket ID DoD-2013-OS-0065]


Proposed Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and 
Readiness (OUSD(P&R)), Federal Voting Assistance Program, DoD.

ACTION: Notice.

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    In compliance with Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel 
and Readiness announces a proposed public information collection and 
seeks public comment on the provisions thereof. Comments are invited 
on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including 
whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy 
of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed information 
collection; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of 
the information collection on respondents, including through the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.

DATES: Consideration will be given to all comments received by May 31, 
2013.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number and 
title, by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Federal Docket Management System Office, 4800 Mark 
Center Drive, East Tower, Suite 02G09, Alexandria, VA 22350-3100.

Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name, 
docket number and title for this Federal Register document. The general 
policy for comments and other submissions from members of the public is 
to make these submissions available for public viewing on the Internet 
at http://www.regulations.gov as they are received without change, 
including any personal identifiers or contact information. Any 
associated form(s) for this collection may be located within this same 
electronic docket and downloaded for review/testing. Follow the 
instructions at http://www.regulations.gov for submitting comments. 
Please submit comments on any given form identified by docket number, 
form number, and title.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request more information on this 
proposed information collection or to obtain a copy of the proposal and 
associated collection instruments, please write to the Director, 
Federal Voting Assistance Program, ATTN: Kathleen McDonnell, 4800 Mark 
Center Drive, Mailbox 10, Alexandria, Virginia 22350-5000, or call 571-
372-1168.
    Title; Associated Form; and OMB Number: Federal Write-In Absentee 
Ballot (FWAB), Standard Form 186 (SF-186); OMB Control Number 0704-TBD.
    Needs and Uses: The information collection requirement is necessary 
to fulfill the requirement of the Uniformed and Overseas Absentee 
Voting Act (UOCAVA), 46 U. S. C. 1973ff wherein the Secretary of 
Defense is to prescribe the Federal write-in absentee ballot for absent 
uniformed service voters and overseas voters in general elections for 
Federal office.
    Affected Public: Individuals or Households: Uniformed Services 
members, eligible family members, U.S. citizens residing outside the 
U.S. who have requested a State absentee ballot but did not receive one 
with enough time to vote and return it, and UOCAVA citizens in States 
that allow the form to be used to apply for voter registration.
    Annual Burden Hours: 300,000.
    Number of Respondents: 1,200,000.
    Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Average Burden per Response: 15 minutes.
    Frequency: On occasion.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Summary of Information Collection

    Respondents are UOCAVA citizens who desire to vote in a Federal 
election but did not receive an absentee ballot from their State of 
residency with enough time to vote and return it. The information 
provided by these citizens is used by the States to determine if the 
citizen is a resident of a jurisdiction within that State, has 
previously requested an absentee ballot (when applicable) and therefore 
eligible for the enclosed ballot to be counted. In States that allow 
the form to be used as a voter registration form, the information 
provided is used by the States to determine if the citizen is a 
resident of a jurisdiction within that State, and therefore eligible to 
vote within that jurisdiction and to provide absentee ballots to these 
citizens for Federal elections held within each calendar year. This 
form is mandated by 42 U.S.C. 1973ff. The Department of Defense does 
not receive, collect nor maintain any data provided on the form by 
these citizens; this data is collected and maintained by the individual 
States. The burden in the collection of this data resides in the 
individual States. If the form is not provided, UOCAVA citizens would 
not have access to the emergency backup ballot and thus, may be 
disenfranchised from their right as a U.S. citizen to participate in 
the electoral process. The previous Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot is 
the edition dated 08-2011. The form has been updated for usability and 
consistency. The most significant changes on the form are as follows: 
The Agency Disclosure Statement has been added to the instruction page 
of the form as per OMB guidance. Block 2 classification has been 
clarified to include activated National Guard

[[Page 19466]]

members on State orders and U.S. citizens who have never resided in the 
United States. These individuals had previously been listed as U.S. 
citizens otherwise granted military/overseas voting rights. The 
overseas citizen selection previously described as ``I am a U.S. 
citizen residing outside the U.S., and I do not intend to return'' has 
been reworded for citizens who are unsure of their future plans or are 
hesitant to sign that they do not intend to return to the country. The 
intent to return language remains on the form due to the October 2008 
National Association Secretaries of State (NASS) Survey of State 
Statues that shows the majority of States have intent as a prerequisite 
for obtaining a State ballot. Block 7 has been reworded back to the 
2005 form language of ``my voting residence address'' to ensure 
military voters with more than one potential U.S. address are not 
registering in the wrong jurisdiction. Block 8 has been reworded to 
``where to send my voting materials'' to ensure voters are using their 
mailing address and not their U.S. voting address. The Affirmation has 
been modified so that voters do not have to reaffirm information 
already found on the form. The signature block has been highlighted and 
the text previously found on the signature and date lines has been 
moved below it so local election officials can easily read signatures 
and dates. The mailing envelope has been modified to include a space to 
identify which election their ballot is being submitted for. This will 
ensure local election officials do not accidently count a general 
election ballot for a primary election and disenfranchise a voter 
because their ballot was not counted in their preferred election. The 
mailing envelope instructions have been clarified to highlight that the 
ballot security envelope and mailing envelope are not the same and two 
envelopes are required.

    Dated: March 25, 2013.
Aaron Siegel,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. 2013-07486 Filed 3-29-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 5001-06-P