Uniformed and
Overseas Citizen Absentee Voting Act
The Uniformed and Overseas
Citizen Absentee Voting Act ("UOCAVA") was enacted by Congress in
1986. The UOCAVA requires that the states and territories allow
certain groups of citizens to register and vote absentee in
elections for Federal offices. In addition, most states and
territories have their own laws allowing citizens covered by the
UOCAVA to register and vote absentee in state and local elections as well.
According to the Federal Code (emphasis on runoffs added), each
state shall -
(1) permit
absent uniformed services voters and overseas voters to use absentee
registration procedures and to vote by absentee ballot in general,
special, primary, and runoff elections for Federal
office;
(2) accept and
process, with respect to any general, special, primary, or
runoff election for Federal office, any otherwise valid voter
registration application from an absent uniformed services voter or
overseas voter, if the application is received by the appropriate
State election official not less than 30 days before the election;
and
(3) permit
overseas voters to use Federal write-in absentee ballots (in
accordance with section 1973ff-2 of this title) in general elections
for Federal office.
Under section 105 of the UOCAVA, the Attorney General is
authorized to bring civil actions to enforce the requirements of the
UOCAVA. The Attorney General has assigned this enforcement
responsibility to the Civil Rights Division.
The Civil Rights Division typically brings enforcement actions
after the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP, a branch of the
Department of Defense) notifies it that absentee ballots for
overseas voters have been mailed so late that there is a substantial
risk that some overseas voters will not be able to return them by
the deadline established by State law. Since the UOCAVA was enacted
in 1986, the Civil Rights Division has brought more than 20
enforcement lawsuits.
Of these, several have dealt with the problem of runoff elections
not allowing sufficient time to return ballots. Examples of suits
include:
- U.S.
v. State of Oklahoma, C.A. No. CIV-88-1444 P (W.D. Okla. Aug. 22,
1988)
- U.S.
v. State of Mississippi, C.A. No. J89-0529(L) (S.D. Miss. Sept.
18, 1989)
- U.S.
v. State of Texas, C.A. No. A-91-CA-384 (W.D. Tex. May 17,
1991)
- U.S.
v. State of Mississippi, C.A. No. 3:96-CV-177-WS (S.D. Miss. March
11, 1996)
- U.S.
v. State of Oklahoma, C.A. No. CIV-98-1271-W (W.D. Okla. Sept. 17,
1998)
- U.S.
v. Texas, C.V. No. A-02-CA-195-SS (W.D. Tex. Mar. 24, 2002)
- U.S.
v. Oklahoma, CIV-02-1273L (W.D. Okla. Sept. 12, 2002
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