NASS Resolution on Voting Information for Military and Overseas Citizens on the Web

NASS Resolution on Voting Information for Military and Overseas Citizens on the Web
Approved July 2004; Reauthorized July 2009, July 2014, July 2019

WHEREAS, members of the Uniformed Services, including the United States Armed Forces, Merchant Marine, Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, are serving the United States in many locations throughout the world today;

WHEREAS, members of the Uniformed Services are making extraordinary personal sacrifices in service to the United States to promote and defend democracy;

WHEREAS, many overseas citizens are serving in the Peace Corps, doing missionary work, working in the foreign service field, attending school or pursing work in an international field;

WHEREAS, the most precious right of a democracy is the right to vote;

WHEREAS, the United States Constitution guarantees the right to vote to all citizens who are of legal age on Election Day;

WHEREAS, the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) and the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE) passed in October 2009 made significant changes to federal election laws affecting absentee voting by uniformed and overseas citizens;

WHEREAS, the Department of Defense's Federal Voting Assistance Program (www.fvap.gov) Web site provides and maintains election information specifically focused on assisting voters covered under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) and MOVE, including a link to each state’s elections Web site with specific elections information regarding UOCAVA voting;

WHEREAS, NASS members are committed to assuring that all qualified citizens can have their right to vote facilitated by state election officials through the most modern and secure technologies available;

WHEREAS, it is important that individual states maintain election information specific to UOCAVA voters on their Web sites;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that NASS requests that each state’s elections Web site provide specific information for UOCAVA voters, and that each Web site provide a link to the U.S. Department of Defense Federal Voting Assistance Program Web site.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) support the full funding of Help America Vote Act (HAVA) requirements to help states improve electronic communication and information available to military and overseas voters.

  • Reauthorized July 3rd, 2019 in Santa Fe, New Mexico
  • EXPIRES: Summer 2024