Congress Passes Bill to Ease Voting

U.S. troops and other American voters overseas will get more time to send in their ballots and more electronic access to voting forms under legislation Congress passed Thursday.

The bill, called the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act, aims to remove some of the hurdles that have caused thousands of overseas ballots to be lost or uncounted in past elections.

The measure was attached to a $680 billion defense policy bill that the Senate approved Thursday on a 68-29 vote. The bill now goes to President Barack Obama for his signature.

The legislation would require that states provide military and other overseas voters with ballots at least 45 days ahead of an election to ensure there is enough time to complete and return them. States also must provide registration forms, absentee ballot request forms and emergency ballots electronically - meaning the forms could be downloaded online or sent over e-mail.

"The important legislation will modernize the way that our men and women in uniform participate in the very democracy that they are sworn to defend," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., one of the measure's sponsors. The bill is backed by a large bipartisan group, including Sens. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., Ben Nelson, D-Neb., Bob Bennett, R-Utah, and John Cornyn, R-Texas.

Chambliss said the bill takes advantage of the latest technology to help troops and overseas voters get their ballots counted in time.

"It's just going to make it a lot easier for those people to cast their ballot for the candidate that they want to see elected to whatever the office may be," Chambliss said.

The measure would also bar states from rejecting military ballots for lack of a notary signature. And it facilitates voter registration assistance for troops and their family members at military installations.

The bill's sponsors say they are confident state officials can carry out the requirements in time for the 2010 elections.

Several studies have explored the difficulties that troops and other Americans living abroad face when voting.

The Congressional Research Service, in a May report, found that one out of every four military personnel and overseas voters may have been thwarted in efforts to vote in the 2008 election because of communication and bureaucratic problems. Mail delays, notary requirements and registration deadlines were some of the barriers.

The Pew Center on the States, a division of the Pew Charitable Trusts, in January issued a report concluding that 25 states and the District of Columbia do not provide adequate time for overseas troops to vote and have their ballots count.