Absentee voting has come under scrutiny during this presidential election amid the protracted coronavirus pandemic, and for some of those who serve in the armed forces, voting this year has brought mixed experiences.
"It was scary this year, given the current situation, because I had no idea if my ballot was tampered with before I turned it in. And there is no way for me to prevent that or even check it," one Missouri-native U.S. soldier, stationed in Afghanistan who spoke on condition of anonymity due to media restrictions, told Fox News on Monday. "I don't trust it; still, there is no other way for me."
Another deployed service member sending his ballot to Ohio complained late Monday from Afghanistan that his tracking indicated that his envelope was still sitting in a New York mailroom. Simultaneously, another said she rushed around to register for her ballot from Tennessee several weeks ago, yet still expressed concerns it had not reached its destination.
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As a result of difficulties associated with international mailing for military members, which first began for the 1944 presidential election in the dawn days of World War ll, the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act was passed in 1986 to ensure votes from abroad were counted, establishing deadlines and a grace period – sometimes as far as a 10 days – post-Election Day.
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"Any barriers experienced by a UOCAVA voter vary depending on their location, access to resources, training opportunities, and the availability of voter assistance. Voters have expressed concerns over returning their voted ballot by mail due to local country COVID-19 restrictions," explained David Beirne, Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) director.
Another U.S. Army soldier told Fox News that their chain-of-command was of little help in navigating the process, and another in Okinawa, Japan said he only received his ballot – from Florida – last Friday despite applying weeks out.
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"It was the first time in 15 years that my ballot took more than two months to get," he noted.
Susan Dzieduszycka-Suinat, president and CEO of the U.S. Vote Foundation and Overseas Vote, noted that only half the states allow the entire overseas and military voting process to be conducted online; registration and ballot request, online ballot delivery, and ballot return. Each state can differ in what they allow.
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Indeed, members of the U.S. military routinely play a pivotal role in determining election outcomes. On the radar, in particular, is the critical swing state of Florida, which is home to a large portion of military families, and in the last presidential cycle had the highest number of military mail ballots included.
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Traditionally, voter turnout among the actively deployed is higher than the national average. But as per FVAP data, more than 930,000 ballots were disseminated last time, and the return rate was more than 68%.
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