President Obama Signs the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act into Law

The DNC passed a resolution in favor of the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act at its fall meeting this September. Today, President Obama signed it into law, as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.

The law, co-sponsored by Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), will make it easier for American military service members and citizens overseas to vote and make sure that their votes are counted. By some estimates as many as one in four ballots requested by voters overseas was not counted during the 2008 election. The law takes effect in 2010.

Specifically, the legislation will make voter registration applications, absentee ballot applications and blank ballots available electronically, require that ballots are sent to overseas voters no less than 45 days before Election Day, and eliminate the requirement that military and overseas ballots be notarized (in the states that still require it). It will also give more Americans the opportunity to use the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot, which is currently available online and can serve as a “back-up” measure, if a local absentee ballot does not arrive in time.

The Pew Center on the States has a good write up on the issue. Read it here.

Comments (2) «

Thank you, Will, for posting a thread on this very important bill. It will greatly impact my day to day work.

It will be a challenge to impliment it. I do hope election officials will be given the means to provide this service because those in the military deserve their vote to be cast and counted.

1

Esmeralda on October 30, 2009 at 09:59 PM

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vikas on October 31, 2009 at 07:53 AM

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