Overseas Military Voters – Overseas Vote Foundation’s New State Fact Sheets

Overseas Military Voters : Overseas Vote Foundation

Overseas Military Voters : Overseas Vote Foundation helps those U.S. citizens overseas register to vote and vote in federal elections.

Overseas Military Voters : Overseas Vote Foundation

Information for overseas military voters (Overseas U.S. citizens, State Department employees, active duty uniformed service members, and their families) is now available at one convenient online location. The Overseas Vote Foundation has created State Fact Sheets to help save time and understand overseas military voting in each state at a single glance.

    Each State Fact Sheet features:

  • Legislative Updates
  • Estimates of the Overseas and Military Voters population from that State
  • Overseas Vote Foundation Usage Statistics and Post-Election Survey Results
  • Balloting Statistics from the Election Assistance Commission (EAC)
  • Current State Policy on Overseas and Military Voters

“Imagine how the outcome of the Iowa caucuses might have changed, had overseas and military voters been able to participate. The margin of eight votes helps Americans understand that their vote really matters. It’s a great motivator,” said OVF President and CEO Susan Dzieduszycka-Suinat in a recent press release. “Our overseas and military voters can have an impact on this Presidential election. We need to assure they have timely access to absentee ballots and can exercise their right to vote.”

According to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, more than 989,000 ballots were requested by overseas military voters for the 2008 U.S. Presidential election; only 680,000 were returned for counting.

The Overseas Vote Foundation’s (OVF) mission is to help overseas and military voters participate in federal elections by providing public access to various voter registration tools and services.

OVF makes it convenient for overseas military voters to get their ballot and vote. Overseas U.S. citizens, State Department employees, and active duty uniformed service members (along with their spouses and dependents) within and outside of the United States vote under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA). All can register to vote from abroad using OVF’s services.

OVF ia a nonprofit, nonpartisan public charity and is not connected in any way with any US government or US military organization.

For more information about the Overseas Vote Foundation and overseas and military voters visit www.overseasvotefoundation.org

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Florida Voter Suppression election law HB 1355 hinders register to vote drive and voting

Florida voter suppression election law hinders register to vote drive

Florida voter suppression election law HB 1355

Florida voter suppression election law HB 1355

A Florida voter suppression law has a University of Florida professor and elections expert saying that it is the reason for the current decrease in statewide voter registration.

Daniel Smith, along with several election experts, testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing that the law will have a detrimental effect on early voting and voter registration. This new law, HB 1355, now requires groups such as the League of Women Voters or local churches, to turn in their voter registration forms within 48 hours. Such community service organizations used to have 10 days to submit them. Any group that misses the deadline is subject to heavy fines.

According to Professor Smith: “Not only is the number of new voter registrations down appreciably from comparable months four years ago, but the percentage of valid new registrations under HB 1355 is also lower, indicating that third-party groups such as the League of Women Voters and other groups who collected and submitted voter registration forms in 2007, but were not so involved in 2011, are not the cause of invalid voter registration forms being submitted for verification. Rather, what is clear from these figures is that the increased burdens placed on third-party persons and organizations wishing to register citizens to vote resulting from HB 1355 have done little to prevent the submission of invalid voter registration forms.”

The effect of this voter suppression law has been to deter third-party groups from holding voter registration drives, since many of these non-profits could not afford to pay huge fines, should their often understaffed and overworked volunteers miss the 48-hour submission deadline.

In addition, HB 1355 now requires voters who moved to another county to cast a provisional ballot rather than change their address at the polls. Also, early voting on the Sunday before Election Day was eliminated. Before then, many churches took their members to the polls on that day.

Professor Smith also presented evidence that the restrictions of this voter suppression law fall disproportionately hard on minority groups:

“In the 2008 general election, African-Americans comprised only 13 percent of total voters but were 31 percent of voters on the Sunday before Election Day. Similarly the state’s Hispanic voters were 11 percent of total voters but made up 22 percent of those who cast their ballot on the last Sunday of early voting. Obviously eliminating early voting on that day suppresses the turnout of minority voters who tend to vote Democrat.”

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