Voting by Overseas Citizens and Military Personnel

Abstract The wide variation in state election laws poses serious obstacles to voting for overseas and military citizens. While issues with delivering an unmarked ballot remain, the principal problem is how best to return a marked ballot from overseas and military voters to local election officials in sufficient time to be counted. The Presidential Commission on Election Administration recommended that states distribute ballots and registration materials to overseas citizens and military personnel via specially designed and easily navigated websites. Despite the lack of guaranteed electronic security, the peculiar needs of citizens living overseas and military personnel raises the prospect of using the Internet for communication and document delivery.