Convenience Voting and Technology The Case of Military and Overseas Voters

The global movement of people has created one of modern democracy's greatest challenges: the overseas voter. In response to the unique problems that voters abroad face, several key pieces of federal legislation have been passed by Congress, including the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) in 1986 and the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) in 2002. Smith closely examines the voting experiences of military and overseas citizens and documents the historical development of their voting rights and the development of voting technology. Several metrics of voting success are examined to determine how successful recent legislation has been in improving the military and overseas voting experience, and identifies limitations in public policy's ability to improve certain metric of success, as well as the applicability of these lessons for domestic voters within the United States.

Claire M. Smith is Researcher at the Overseas Vote Foundation.

1. Introduction. 'My polling place is my living room.'
2. Who are UOCAVA voters?
3. The Development of Military and Overseas Voting Rights in the U.S.
4. Evaluating Voting Policy Success. Aggregate Outcomes
5. Evaluating Voting Policy Success. Voter Satisfaction
6. Defending Votes. The Unique Problems of Military Voters
7. Voting Technology, Privacy, and Security Concerns
8. The Future of Convenience Voting for Overseas and Domestic Voters