[House Hearing, 113 Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] MILITARY AND OVERSEAS VOTING IN 2012 ======================================================================= HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION __________ HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, NOVEMBER 20, 2013 __________ Printed for the use of the Committee on House Administration [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 86-539 WASHINGTON : 2014 ____________________________________________________________________________ For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, http://bookstore.gpo.gov. For more information, contact the GPO Customer Contact Center, U.S. Government Printing Office. Phone 202-512-1800, or 866-512-1800 (toll-free). E-mail, [email protected]. Available on the Internet: www.fdsys.gov COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION CANDICE S. MILLER, Michigan, Chairman GREGG HARPER, Mississippi ROBERT A. BRADY, Pennsylvania, PHIL GINGREY, M.D., Georgia Ranking Minority Member AARON SCHOCK, Illinois ZOE LOFGREN, California TODD ROKITA, Indiana JUAN VARGAS, California RICHARD B. NUGENT, Florida Professional Staff Kelly Craven, Staff Director Kyle Anderson, Minority Staff Director MILITARY AND OVERSEAS VOTING IN 2012 ---------- WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2013 House of Representatives, Committee on House Administration, Washington, DC. The committee met, pursuant to call, at 11:40 a.m., in Room 1310, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Candice S. Miller [chairman of the committee] presiding. Present: Representatives Miller, Harper, Gingrey, Schock, Rokita, Brady, and Vargas. Staff Present: Kelly Craven, Staff Director; Peter Schalestock, Deputy General Counsel; Yael Barash, Legislative Clerk; Salley Wood, Communications Director and Deputy Staff Director; Bob Sensenbrenner, Senior Counsel; Kyle Anderson, Minority Staff Director; Matt Pinkus, Minority Senior Policy Advisor; Matt Defreitas, Minority Professional Staff; Khalil Abboud, Minority Deputy Counsel; Thomas Hicks, Minority Senior Counsel; Mike Harrison, Minority Chief Counsel; Greg Abbott, Minority Professional Staff; and Eddie Flaherty, Minority Chief Clerk. The Chairman. I would now call to order the Committee on House Administration hearing on military and overseas voting in 2013. And the hearing record will remain open--or, excuse me, for the election year of 2012. The hearing record will remain open for 5 legislative days so that Members may submit any materials that they wish to be included therein. And, again, a quorum is present, so we can proceed. First of all, I want to thank all my fellow committee members for being here today to discuss military and overseas voting. Every one of the brave men and women who serve our Nation in uniform across the globe has volunteered for the job. This is a total volunteer military. And they volunteer because they believe in our democracy, they believe in freedom, and they are willing to sacrifice so greatly to ensure that freedom and liberty are always protected. And yesterday, as we all know, actually marked 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address. And in closing that address, President Abraham Lincoln said, ``It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this Nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that the government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the Earth.'' And I mentioned this because the entire concept--I think this is an interesting thing to note--the entire concept of absentee voting was actually established at that time by the States, with cooperation of the Federal Government, to make certain that Union soldiers would be able to cast ballots in the Presidential election of 1864. It was the first time our Nation used absentee balloting. And I am sure that it was a challenge for the States, it was a challenge for the Federal Government and the military, but it got done. And so, certainly, we should make no less an effort today for our military. Those who have worn the uniform of our Nation in defense of freedom and of liberty have made certain that government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished. In fact, it has thrived. And, today, all in our society, regardless of their race or sex or creed, are able to fully participate in our government due in large measure to their devotion. And as a representative here of the American people, and particularly those of us who serve on this committee, we have a solemn duty to ensure that our troops, those who protect our freedom, have the ability to vote and to participate in the democratic process for which they are so willing to risk their life. And it is also the solemn responsibility of our witnesses here today and one that I know they take very, very seriously, as well. And so, to our witnesses, I certainly want to express our gratitude to both of you for your service and dedication to fair and open and free and accurate and inclusive electoral processes. And as a former Michigan Secretary of State, I am very aware of the challenges each State election officer faces when trying to improve voting access for their military constituencies who are serving overseas. Myself and Mr. Rokita, as well, as a former Secretary, very familiar with the challenges of processing absentee requests and transmitting ballots overseas and, unfortunately, discarding overseas ballots that arrived after the State deadlines, as well, which happens far too often. However, it has been a decade since I have been the Secretary of State, and we have seen some fantastic advancements in technology as well as at the State and Federal level with their procedures. For the second consecutive Presidential election, we have seen reports that show that military personnel are registering to vote at rates 15 to 17 percentage points higher than the overall civilian population. Similar reports also indicate that the percentage of military personnel who voted slightly increased from 2008 to 2012. These figures, I think, tell us two things: one, that our military personnel want to vote; and, two, that we are slowly improving their ability to vote. And with the combined efforts of the Federal Voting Assistance Program administered by the Department of Defense, various State initiatives, and Federal legislation, as well, aimed at supporting both, we have really seen greater participation amongst military voters. The Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act, known as the MOVE Act, was the first major piece of legislation aimed at facilitating overseas voting since 1986. And it was designed to advance DOD and State initiatives in three ways: First, it required that all military overseas ballots be sent at least 45 days before an election. And this was intended to address ballots being discarded because they were arriving, as we said, after the State deadlines. Second, it required the Department of Defense to install voting assistance offices at every military installation to assist servicemembers with their registration and absentee requests. And, finally, it provided grants for States to improve or to adopt programs that electronically transmitted ballots to our soldiers overseas. In 2012, 3 years after its adoption, I believe that we have seen success of the legislation, and we have identified areas, as well, where there is still room for improvement. The largest room is always the room for improvement. For example, since the MOVE Act grant program started, which has provided, as we say, over 40 States and local counties with $35 million, we have seen a significant increase in the number of States that are adopting and testing procedures that allow servicemembers to access their blank ballots online, significantly expediting the process of voting from overseas. And we have also heard valid concerns about the legislation's requirement that the DOD outfit every installation, even the most remote, with voting assistance representatives--a costly burden that could perhaps be satisfied with more timely, cost-effective methods like social media. So, today, we will hear from our witnesses about their unique experiences and observations related to the implementation of the MOVE Act, as well. Unfortunately, due to a family issue, the Michigan Secretary of State, Ruth Johnson, who was also going to be one of our witnesses today, was not able to be here. However, we have received and reviewed her testimony, which will be--her full testimony will be submitted into our hearing record. And I certainly want to acknowledge the great work that she has done for the State of Michigan. Particularly, I am impressed with her work as cofounder of Operation Our Troops Count, which is a program dedicated to ensuring that military voters overseas have the ability to vote. And I know that last September both Secretary Johnson and Secretary Miller participated in a bipartisan delegation to the Middle East to meet with our troops. I will be interested to hear a little bit about your experiences there, Secretary. Again, I just want to thank our witnesses for being here. I look forward to discussing this very important issue and to hearing about their observations, both domestically and abroad as well. And, at this time, I would like to recognize the ranking member of the committee, Mr. Brady, for his opening statement. Mr. Brady. Thank you, Madam Chairman. And I want to thank the chairman for calling this very important hearing. I would also like to congratulate Mr. Boehmer for moving from active head of the Federal assistance program to officially becoming the director, I think. Mr. Boehmer. Thank you. Mr. Brady. Last week, we celebrated Veterans Day. On that day, we acknowledged the sacrifice members of our Armed Forces make to protect our rights. It is only fitting that this committee do its part to make sure that they are not sacrificing their own fundamental right, the right to vote. Some of the important questions continue to be: What role has technology placed in assisting our military and overseas voters? How are the Department of Defense and the Federal Voting Assistance Program working together to ensure that all Americans are guaranteed the right to vote? What would allow secretaries of State to streamline this process? Ensuring the voting rights of all eligible Americans is this committee's most important obligation. In the next session of this Congress, I look forward to working with Chairman Miller as we work to expand and intensify our efforts to uphold that responsibility. We must begin to address this litany of bills referred to us that are designed to improve our electoral process. The Voter Empowerment Act, introduced in the last two Congresses, addresses everything from the registration process to modernization to improving the Election Assistance Commission. I thank again the chairman for calling this meeting. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses. The Chairman. I thank the gentleman very much. Any other opening statements? Dr. Gingrey. Mr. Gingrey. Madam Chairman, I want to thank you for calling this important hearing on military and overseas voting in the 2012 election and particularly the effectiveness of the Military and Overseas Voting Empowerment Act, MOVE. I would also like to welcome our witnesses, Nevada's Secretary of State, Ross Miller, and Matt Boehmer, as Mr. Brady said, the recently appointed director of the Federal Voting Assistance Program. Congratulations, Mr. Boehmer. In December of 2009, the MOVE Act was enacted to address shortcomings in the voting process for military and, of course, overseas citizens and to enhance the use of available technology to facilitate their voting. Today's hearing provides the opportunity to take stock of the successes and issues with the MOVE Act in the 2012 elections and to determine how we can better promote voting by servicemembers, their dependents, and, of course, the lesser number of citizens living overseas. The right to vote--and Mr. Brady said this so well--the right to vote is a fundamental freedom. It is imperative that we ensure that Americans, no matter where they are in the world, that they have the opportunity to have their voices heard on Election Day. And I, too, believe that it is particularly critical to provide our service men and women with the chance to vote. These men and women are on the front lines; they are protecting our freedoms. It is critical to preserving, indeed, our very way of life. And in return, we owe them. We, indeed, owe them an effective electoral system that protects their right and ability to vote in the very system which they are fighting to safeguard. Georgia is home, my State, to several military installations, including Fort Benning, Warner Robins Air Force Base, Fort Gordon, Dobbins Air Reserve Base in my district, to just name a few. And, as such, the issue of military voting hits particularly close to home for me. Those willing to die for our freedoms deserve the chance to participate in a democratic republic. And I am hopeful that this hearing will highlight progress in giving a voice to military and overseas voters, but also show us how we can improve the process to make it easier and more efficient for our citizens across the globe to participate in our elections. We must ensure that FVAP, States, and localities are making the most effective use of the limited resources and that our citizens are aware of the tools and resources that are available. And so I am grateful for the chance to hear from our witnesses today about how we can help FVAP to fulfill its mission, increase compliance with the MOVE Act without creating any undue burden on our States and localities, and ensure that those overseas know that their vote will count. Thank you, Madam Chairman. I yield back. The Chairman. Thank you very much, Dr. Gingrey. And before I introduce our two witnesses and ask for their testimony, I would ask unanimous consent to enter into the record the written testimony from Michigan's Secretary of State, Ruth Johnson, and the report produced by the Secretaries of State who visited the Middle East, ``Military and Overseas Voters 2012: Observations and Recommendations by a Delegation of State Chief Elections Officers.'' Without objection, entered into the record. [The statement and report of Ms. Johnson follows:] [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] The Chairman. Any other opening statements? I would like now to take some time to introduce more formally our two witnesses. First, we are going to hear from Secretary of State Ross Miller. Secretary Miller, from Nevada, was president of the National Association of Secretaries of State in 2012. He is a former criminal prosecutor; elected Nevada's Secretary of State in 2007. And as the State's chief election officer, his accomplishments include the multi-jurisdictional Elections Integrity Task Force and Aurora, Nevada's searchable campaign finance database. As Secretary, he led the election fraud investigation into ACORN in Nevada, which led to criminal charges against the organization. And he also participated in the FVAP Middle East observation mission in 2012. And Matt Boehmer recently was selected as permanent director, as has been mentioned, of the Federal Voting Assistance Program after serving as an acting director since January. And in his capacity as the director, he administers the Federal responsibilities of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act. The act covers the voting rights of uniformed services personnel, their eligible family members, and all U.S. citizens residing outside of the United States. He has worked in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness since 1991. Previously, he was director of Joint Advertising, Market Research, and Studies and worked at the Defense Manpower Data Center and the Defense Human Resource Activity. And, with that, the chair would now again welcome and recognize the Secretary of State from Nevada, Ross Miller. STATEMENTS OF THE HON. ROSS MILLER, SECRETARY OF STATE, NEVADA; AND MATT BOEHMER, DIRECTOR, FEDERAL VOTING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM STATEMENT OF THE HON. ROSS MILLER Mr. Miller. Thank you, Chairman Miller, Ranking Member Brady, and members of the committee. For the record, Ross Miller, Nevada Secretary of State. I want to thank you for the opportunity to be here today to discuss military and overseas voting procedures and issues and, in particular, how they are addressed in my home State of Nevada. In Nevada, we have a strong military presence, most notably the Fallon Naval Air Station in the northern part of the State and Nellis Air Force Base in the south. This is an issue that I care deeply about since I have been Secretary of State, when I was elected in 2007. I have made it a significant priority to try to enhance the system so that we can ensure that the military ballots are transmitted in a timely manner, and I think we have made significant progress. Just to note, in the last 2012 election, Nevada transmitted 6,449 ballots to those covered voters, and 96 percent of those ballots were returned. Only 265 were not counted for various reasons. That said, there is clearly room for improvement. Most noteworthy, perhaps, is the fact that 42 percent of Nevada's military and overseas ballots were requested after the 45-day MOVE Act deadline. That number is clearly too high. It indicates that many unregistered UOCAVA voters had not indicated their UOCAVA eligibility prior to that deadline. And it indicates that many UOCAVA voters who did not request a ballot for the primary would have automatically--who then would have automatically received the general election ballot by the 45-day deadline. Despite the progress that we have made, I want to point out a significant initiative, and that was an overseas trip that Chairman Miller referenced. It included a bipartisan delegation of Secretaries of State--three Republicans, two Democrats. We traveled to Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain in a trip that was sponsored by the Department of Defense in which FVAP accompanied us in an effort to try to come up with some recommendations and to survey how this process was coming. Overall, it was very productive. And at the outset, I will note that the military personnel that are overseeing the process of ensuring that those ballots get to our troops in time are doing significant work. They made it clear throughout process that the transmission of ballots is the highest priority. As they said over and over again, ballots go before beans and bullets, in terms of the transportation of assets. FVAP is also doing an outstanding job. In every base that we visited and every troop that we talked to, their outreach efforts were significant. And, clearly, the troops were aware of the things that they were doing in order to make sure that they got the ballots. That said, we do have a few recommendations that I want to explore with you. The first is that we heard time and time again that the preferred method from our troops, in order to receive the ballots, is that they be able to receive the ballots electronically and then transmit them. There is a little bit of a history to this that some of the Members may remember. Not so long ago, Secretaries of State across the country changed the legislation in order to allow for ballots to be transmitted by fax. That wasn't working too well because in many forward operating bases they don't have access to fax machines. We then took an additional step and allowed those ballots to be transmitted by email. That makes it more convenient, but it still requires them to print out the ballot and scan it and send it back. And in many of those instances, they don't have access to a scanner. And so the recommendation that we came forward with was to explore the use of a Common Access Card to enable the electronic transmission of absentee ballots. This is a card that members of the military are familiar with. It provides a level of security that, at least in Nevada, we are comfortable with. And so we moved forward with legislation to allow that to happen. We can transmit the ballot to them electronically, they can fill it out electronically, and transmit it. It is a much more streamlined process, and I think it will make the process much more efficient for members of the military. The second recommendation that this bipartisan group came up with is to enhance efforts to provide individualized content to absentee voters, direct-to-the-voter assistance. FVAP currently retains an online portal where they direct, through wizard technology, the information that any military overseas voter would need in terms of timelines, basic procedures in certain States. The feedback that we heard was that the system is easy to use and has been well received by absentee voters, but it is nevertheless cumbersome because it requires an affirmative commitment by that individual voter to seek out that information. The recommendation that we have is to seek out ways to communicate jurisdiction-specific information directly to the voter in an individualized communication. There are a couple of barriers that are outlined in our report to potentially doing that, but we think it should be explored. And, finally, the final recommendation is to enhance coordination with the Military Postal Service and State and local election offices. The military postal system operates a very sophisticated system in order to track where ballots are in the process and transmit that information to the appropriate resources. Funding was made available in 2010 in order to enhance State systems to be able to further track those ballots, but the common complaint that we heard from military personnel is, if they filled out their forms and they completed the basic requirements, oftentimes there was no confirmation, and so they weren't aware whether or not that request had been received in a timely manner. We think that by moving towards further communication with the military system and State and local election officials, that could clearly be enhanced. And then, additionally, the administration of absentee ballots could be further enhanced by better integrating the military postal systems and those of State and local election offices. The Automated Military Postal System, often referred to as AMPS, logs valuable data. And if that information were shared with State and local election offices, it would clearly help the efficiencies in maintaining the election. That said, we obviously have provided a copy of the full report to the committee, and we welcome any questions that you may have. The Chairman. Thank you very much. We appreciate that testimony. [The statement of Mr. Miller follows:] [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] The Chairman. The chair now recognizes Mr. Boehmer for his testimony. STATEMENT OF MATT BOEHMER Mr. Boehmer. Thank you. Chairman Miller, Ranking Member Brady, and distinguished members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to discuss the Federal Voting Assistance Program and its mission to ensure that uniformed services personnel, their eligible family members, and our overseas citizens are aware of their right to vote and have the tools and resources they need to do so from anywhere in the world. As Congress and the courts have repeatedly affirmed, voting is a citizen's most fundamental right. Recognizing military and overseas voters face unique challenges participating in U.S. Elections, Congress created a set of protections to make voting in Federal elections easier and more accessible, which are codified in the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act. This year, we put forward recommendations to further strengthen these safeguards for military and overseas voters. In fulfilling our responsibilities under the law, the Federal Voting Assistance Program is committed to two voting assistance tenants: promoting the awareness of the right to vote and eliminating barriers for those who choose to exercise that right. At FVAP, we provide assistance every day. Voters seeking assistance find a myriad of resources available, including an expertly staffed call center, well-trained voting assistance officers, and a robust Web site at fvap.gov, where voters can find intuitive online tools to help them complete their voter registration, ballot application forms, as well as the backup ballot. We also work with State and local election officials, such as Secretary Miller, ensuring they are aware of the law's requirements and helping them serve our military and overseas citizen voters. In 2012, FVAP made great strides to improve processes, programs, and our tools. As detailed in our post-election report to Congress, FVAP launched several new voting initiatives and executed an aggressive communication and media engagement plan to promote the awareness of our resources available to our military and overseas citizen voters. Our post-election survey data revealed that when servicemembers use one of the Department's resources, they are more likely to return their ballot. However, data also show us that we need to do more to raise awareness of these voting resources provided by FVAP. It is my personal goal, as the new director of FVAP, to ensure that we accomplish this. I have spent my career in the Department of Defense working to strengthen the all-volunteer force, and I am honored now to work to enhance the voting ability for those who defend that very freedom. For the 2014 election cycle, we are expanding several key outreach efforts and launching some new initiatives to raise awareness of our voting resources. Specifically, FVAP is developing new public service announcements aimed at our overseas citizens and military spouses. We are providing customized digital toolkits to our voting assistance officers, election officials, advocacy organizations, and overseas companies with a large number of U.S. citizen employees. We are also targeting our younger population with an integrated communications plan leveraging social media and mobile devices. Military members are consistently registered to vote at a rate equal to or greater than that of the general population. But registration isn't the end of the story. As you know, servicemembers are an especially mobile population, and keeping up-to-date contact information on file at the appropriate election office is an ongoing challenge. To overcome this obstacle, FVAP is working on two new initiatives to automate address updates and inform servicemembers proactively to notify their election official of any new address. I look forward to keeping you up to date on the progress of these efforts throughout 2014. The pace at FVAP hasn't slowed since the 2012 election, and we continue to make ongoing improvements to our core services. This year, we optimized our prescribed absentee voting forms to improve clarity and usability. We updated the Voting Assistance Guide and our interactive training modules for use by the military and Department of State voting assistance officers as well as our State and local election officials. Also in 2013, FVAP provided an additional round of research grants to 11 States and localities. These grants funded two research areas: the first, the effect of online blank ballot delivery; and the second explores the efficiencies of providing a single State-wide point of contact for our military and overseas voters. Madam Chairman, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today about our efforts in the 2012 election cycle as well as the upcoming 2014 election. Voting is an individual's choice and personal responsibility, and FVAP is committed to providing the best voting assistance possible to those who want to vote, whether they are studying abroad, fighting downrange, or serving on U.S. soil. Thank you, and I look forward to our discussion and answering your questions. [The statement of Mr. Boehmer follows:] [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] The Chairman. Thank you both so very, very much. I appreciate your testimony. Secretary, I was trying to take a couple notes when you were talking, particularly when you mentioned you had 6,429 ballots sent overseas, 96 percent returned, and only 265 not counted. First of all, hats off. That is a fantastic number. A lot of States would love to have those kind of percentages. So that is really a tribute to you and your staff and all of your election officials through Nevada that you have that kind of percentage. Then I was also taking a couple of notes as you were talking about some specific recommendations, which, as I told the both of you before we started the hearing, really, that is really one of the impetuses for this hearing and something that I want to--and I know all the members of this committee share a commitment to not just hearing about best practices and various things that have happened but what else can we do, particularly as a committee, to assist in every way. So I am always looking and taking notes when have you have some specific ideas. One about the Military Postal Service. I guess, for some reason, I hadn't really thought too much about that before until you were talking, Secretary, about that the troops couldn't get confirmation of their ballots once they were put into the Military Postal Service and how the Military Postal Service should be able to integrate better with the civilian postal service. And since I have both of you two experts right here at this table talking to one another about how that--could you expand on that a little bit maybe so that I can understand exactly what we might be able to do and how the Department of Defense with their Military Postal Service could help with that? Mr. Miller. Thank you, Chairman Miller. Yes, one of the common complaints about the overseas and absentee voting process was that the tracking and confirmation mechanisms in place with the local election offices were not sufficient. Several military members reported some frustration that they had attempted to communicate with their local election office but had not received any acknowledgment or confirmation that their communication had been received--in other words, that they attempted to register to vote or requested an absentee ballot and hadn't gotten any confirmation from the local election officials. And so the recommendation is to enhance those systems. Notably, in 2010, FVAP provided grants to a number of States, Nevada included, in order to enhance our systems so that we could do just that. Unfortunately, the timeline that was provided under the grants was very limited. And, in many instances, the restrictions on the grants did not allow us to integrate it into our legacy systems. And so many of those projects and initiatives were not continued. And that is, in fact, the case in Nevada. We had a superb system that was put in place for the 2010 election under a very tight timeline, but because of the limitations with the grant, we weren't able to expand it to future elections. And that is unfortunate. We would like to build a system that would integrate with our system so that we could take advantage of those services. The other recommendation with regard to enhancing coordination with the Military Postal Service and State and local election officials is that the military has a very sophisticated system, the AMP System, the Automated Military Postal System, which logs data as to where those ballots are in the system. That information to date, to my awareness, is not shared with local or State election offices. And if we had that information, that would obviously help us prepare for the number of ballots that could be headed our way so that we could more efficiently run the election. And I think, through that coordination, obviously, we would see significant results. The Chairman. I appreciate that. Mr. Boehmer, maybe you could comment on that. I am just thinking, as the Secretary is talking, perhaps you can't share that information because you don't want to let everybody know where everybody is at sometimes, as well. That may be some reason. I am not sure. What is the reason? Mr. Boehmer. I can certainly share that information with the Director of the Military Postal Service Agency. From what I know, they are actually working on a couple of new efforts. It is a partnership with the United States Postal Service as well as with the Department of State. It is called the MILPARS. And it takes the Postal Address Redirection System that we all currently use--it is that little yellow sticker that you get on mail when someone has moved. They are coordinating that system now for military addresses, both military post offices and diplomatic post offices. So I know that MPSA is working on this issue, they are working it in partnerships. But I certainly can pass that information on to the Director of MPSA. The Chairman. Okay. I appreciate that. Also, Director Boehmer, first of all, the Inspector General had a somewhat critical report, actually, on the progress of establishing installation voting assistance offices at all the individual military facilities. And I am just wondering if you could talk a little bit about that. And then I will then ask the Secretary, when had you your opportunity to be overseas talking to our brave men and women, what was their thought about actually having a voter assistance station there? Like, for instance, if you were in Bahrain with the Fifth Fleet, were they more interested in using this electronic, as you were mentioning about--I think you called it the CAC card, that you are using in Nevada, were they more interested in improving on that? But, first of all, in regard to the IG report. Mr. Boehmer. Absolutely. The installation voter assistance offices were determined and established before the 2012 election. I think the issue that the IG faced is they used outdated contact information on our Web site to try to reach out to the installation voter assistance offices. When we were made aware of outdated contact information, we quickly corrected that and then worked with the installation voter assistance offices on a weekly basis to make sure that that contact information stayed up to date. As you are aware, in military environments, personnel change. There are deployments and transfers and new assignments. So keeping up-to-date contact information can be a challenge with military personnel. But we took that seriously; we addressed the problem quickly. And we are happy to see that, in the IG's most recent report, they actually concurred with the services' IG findings that all of the services' voting assistance activities, including the installation voter assistance offices, were compliant. If I could take a moment, too---- The Chairman. Sure. Mr. Boehmer [continuing]. I think it is important to realize that these installation voter assistance offices are just one of the many resources that our military members have at their disposal for information. So if I am a type of person that wants to receive information in person, I have that as a resource, but I also have my unit voting assistance officer, who really is in the front lines of voting assistance. If I am an 18-year-old military member and very comfortable going online for my voting assistance, I can use all the tools and resources that we have at fvap.gov. I mentioned our call center. We are able to send our servicemembers more than 18 million emails over the course of the election cycle reminding them of key dates. So the installation voting assistance offices are just one of the many resources---- The Chairman. Right. Mr. Boehmer [continuing]. That our servicemembers have available to them. The Chairman. Particularly, as you say, when they are so mobile, you also mention about PSAs, and I thought, well, how are you getting a PSA to somebody who that is up in the mountains of Afghanistan? Unless you have---- Mr. Boehmer. We actually use Armed Forces Network to do that for us. We had great success using---- The Chairman. Good. Mr. Boehmer [continuing]. That station, particularly during the Super Bowl season, which we know that is of particular interest to military members. So those public service announcements have been very beneficial to us. The Chairman. Very good. Good. Secretary, again, what was your experience as you have actually talked eyeball-to-eyeball with the customers, if you will, the users of these systems? And what was their thought about having something there physically or being able to use electronically to a greater degree? Mr. Miller. Thank you, Chairman Miller. The issue of installation voting assistance office outreach was a significant issue for this delegation because it had been the subject of recent scrutiny. And during our interaction with military personnel, there was a general lack of awareness of the presence of specific voter assistance offices at any given installation. But, notably, there was also specific feedback given to us that that wasn't the most effective use of resources. You have to remember that many of the military men and women that are serving over there are 18 to 24 years old; they are more accustomed to using technology. It is also the demographic that is least likely to become politically engaged. The feedback that we heard was that these voting installation offices weren't convenient for them and it is not the means that they wanted to be outreached to. And so, again, their preference was to be able to register to vote online to the extent possible and for those ballots to be able to be transmitted to them electronically, along with being able to transmit it back to the local election offices electronically. And so, in our report, we suggested that if that program is to be continued that there be some examination as to the efficacy of maintaining brick-and-mortar installation offices at any facility. The Chairman. Well, I appreciate that. The chair recognizes the ranking member. Mr. Brady. Thank you, Madam Chairman. I guess it must be tough because general elections are always the same date; primaries, State by State, are different, and the rules are different. And, you know, we have our men and women over there, you know, in harm's way, and I am sure that they have a lot and their commanders have a lot more on their mind than who they are voting for or not voting for. But it still is their right. I mean, they are fighting for our rights, and I want to make sure and hope to make sure--I know that you have been. I was reading over your statements and what both of you are doing to make sure that we assure that right. How do we help you? Do we need to do something State by State, because every State is different? Do we need to do something uniformly to be able to make that easier? And we talked about electronic, maybe the Internet voting. I know there is a so-called pilot program that--I mean, it isn't like they are living--or they are not in town that day or they are not feeling well or they are 60 years old. I mean, we know where they are at and we know what they are doing. And I just think that maybe there should be some kind of--I don't like to use the word ``exception,'' but there should be some type of something that we could do, you know, to make sure that they have that right and it is available for them. Whether they choose to use it or not, you know, that is another issue completely but not under our control, nor your control. You are right at the front lines with this here, State-wide and national, you know. Anything we can do to make sure that we can give them every ability, if it needs to be an ability? I mean, like you mentioned, they are all younger. They are not my age, that I have to learn a little bit and get my 7-year-old grandson to get me out when I am stuck with the--I have a good story to tell you, but that is for another day--but when I am stuck on the computer. But is there something we could do to make it more available and more easier and make it--because you hear the horror stories, you know, about that. I mean, either one of you, or both. Mr. Miller. Thank you, Ranking Member Brady. One, I would note that you have helped significantly. Obviously, the passage of the MOVE Act was the biggest barrier--addressed the biggest barrier that military and overseas voters faced, which was the timely delivery of the ballots. The delegation that I went on in the Middle East was the second such delegation of Secretaries of State. There was one in 2008, and that was their primary recommendation. What was it? The troops reported that even though they had requested ballots in a timely manner, they weren't transmitted in a timely manner in order for them to get the ballots back to them. And so we have made significant enhancements. The recommendations that we have provided in the report, I personally believe, would be of great value and should be further explored. In 2008, the troops indicated, as they did during this delegation's tour, that their preferred method of voting is through an electronic transmission of ballot delivery. We have made specific recommendations as to how that could happen. The other significant recommendation, I think, that is going to make it easier for members of the military and overseas voters to vote is, again, trying to look at ways where we could provide more individualized content to absentee voters about the rules and process that they need to follow in order to get their ballots in a timely manner. Again, I think the FVAP portal is outstanding. It provides wizard technology where, if you walk through, it will guide you State by State, help select your jurisdiction and your residency, and provide you with the timelines that are necessary and how you can request that ballot, how to register to vote, et cetera. But what we heard from troops is they are busy. Oftentimes, this isn't the highest priority for them. The limited free time that they have, they want to be on Facebook, Skyping with their family. And this is still a cumbersome process. There are, obviously, agencies within the Federal Government that know the residencies of these troops. If we were able to share that information with State and local election officials, I can guarantee that, as big of a priority as it is for chief elections officers across this country, we would then be able to provide individualized content that was tailored for that individual so that they wouldn't have to go through this cumbersome wizard tech process in order to figure out the rules and regulations. We could spell it out for them. Say, it looks like you live in Nevada, and in Nevada we have online voter registration. And if you go to this direct Web site, you can not only register to vote but you can request your ballot and ship it back to us immediately. If we offered that, I think it would remove one of the significant barriers there appear to be for military and overseas voters. Mr. Boehmer. Sir, thank you. I also agree with Secretary Miller that you have already done a lot. We certainly have made great strides, and, as Secretary Miller said, we still have a lot more things that we can do. The issue that we are working on are two of the big issues that face our voters as they navigate through the absentee voting process, and that is the issue of time and then complexity. You know, each State, different rules. Our voters, you know, they have to be able to figure that out. Secretary Miller mentioned, if we knew which jurisdiction our military members were actually voting in, we could actually target communications. And we all know, in the marketing world, if you are able to target your customer, you are able to deliver better information to them. The problem is the Department of Defense doesn't have that information. So I agree, if we could find that information and bring that in, it would be a resource that not only the States could use but that the Department of Defense could use, as well. Elections are complex; they are certainly not impossible. And, as Secretary Miller said, our voters are young, they are inexperienced. They do want to use online technology. And we are lucky, with our grant program, to have been able to offer the States grants for online blank ballot delivery. And I think that, working with the States and seeing some of the results over the 5-year grant period, we should be able to make some really good recommendations. So thank you. Mr. Brady. Thank you. So what I understand is probably education, communication, you know, and some information that they may be able to receive, that we can make it easier for them to know that--you know, as you said, and I can certainly imagine, voting for somebody is not the most priority that is on their mind when they have a minute or 2 from not being out in the front lines out there. But to let them know, I guess--again, the problem is the State-wide--I mean, every State is a different timeframe. I may be sitting next to a friend of mine and he may have missed his timeframe and I may not. And, I mean, so I guess the information is, like, most important too. When a ballot is received and the proper ID or whatever, proper box is not checked off, that ballot just gets tossed away? There is no provisional? There is no timeframe where we can allow them to fix it or go back to it? If I submit an absentee ballot and I don't have the proper ID and then somebody rules that--probably State-wide, I guess--rules that invalid, there is no provisional or anything? We have provisionals in the State of Pennsylvania. There is no provisional? Again, I hate to--if somebody goes through that process, and they go through and they vote at the right and proper time, or maybe they miss a day or 2 or don't check a proper box, I would be a little disturbed knowing I am over here fighting for somebody, you know, protecting their rights, and they are not protecting my rights because I was a day or 2 late or I didn't put on that my ID is who I am, it is written here. And, God forbid, if I come home disabled or not come home at all, they will know my ID then. What happens with that? I mean, is there anything we could do to provisionally help them? Because I get that. I get people that have been over in harm's way and come back and said that they were denied to vote, for me specifically, because they didn't check a box, you know. And whether they wanted to vote for me or not, I think we should make sure that that can happen for them. Mr. Miller. Thank you, Ranking Member Brady. I think that is an issue that every State is exploring. And every State, obviously, has different standards in terms of the procedures that must be followed in order for that ballot to be counted. In Nevada, we do have some rejection of the ballots. I discussed it in my testimony. Ninety-six percent of the ballots were, in fact, counted. Many of the ones that were not counted were not received in time. So they have to be received by Election Day in order to be counted. There were some instances of ballots that were not counted because they weren't signed on the ballot where you require a signature in order to verify the identity of the voter that is attempting to cast ballots; and some for a handful of other reasons. You know, I think the issue could certainly be explored, to your point, about providing additional leeway or flexibility. Because members of the military and overseas voters often don't have the time or the resources to be able to come in as a voter in State would be able to do and correct a ballot that may be cast provisionally. Mr. Brady. Your absentee ballots in the State of Nevada have to be in on Election Day? Mr. Miller. Yes. Mr. Brady. What happens if they came in the next day or 2? I mean, and, again, they did it properly, they did it at the right time, they met the deadline when they had to sent it out. Through no fault of their own, again. If it comes, like--Election Days are Tuesdays--if it comes on Wednesday or Thursday, there is nothing you could do to be helpful for somebody that is overseas? Not somebody that is at another location and just didn't feel like being home that day. Mr. Miller. Ranking Member Brady, I will double-check the statute, but my recollection is it has to actually be received by Election Day in order to be counted. Mr. Brady. Because in Pennsylvania our ballots, absentee ballots, come in days later, because they are collected at the polling place and they come in later or they are counted later or whatever. And I am not saying that Nevada should be different. I am just saying that, anything we could do to enhance it? If somebody does the right and proper things, and then the mail or whatever--maybe they didn't pick up the mail on Tuesday, maybe they pick it up on Thursday, and they are 2 days late, I just think it is a shame to have them, the men and women over there fighting for us, not to be able to have their vote counted. But I appreciate both of you for coming, and I appreciate your participation in making this a better place for them. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. The Chairman. Thank you. I thank the gentleman. And the chair now recognizes the gentleman from Georgia, Dr. Gingrey. Mr. Gingrey. Madam Chairman, thank you. Representative Brady certainly had some very good questions. In my hometown of Marietta, Georgia, we just had mayoral and city council elections. And one of the city council members, who is a good friend of mine that I served on the school board with way back when I started into politics, lost by one vote. And she was an incumbent and had served on the school board and city council. And they did a recount, and she still lost by one vote. So it is over. So, I mean, one vote counts. And when my good friend, Mr. Brady, Representative Brady, said, you know, especially these members of the military, they have a provisional ballot that doesn't get counted, that that is not right. And their vote I won't say is more important than anybody else's vote, but, as he pointed out, they are at the tip of the spear. They give the rest of us the opportunity to have the right to vote. And I am just sitting here thinking, we marked up and passed H. Res. 77. Maybe in the competition one of these young people, with developing apps, can help you guys, can figure out--and that will be the prize winner. But, obviously, you are doing a great job, but, you know, there are things that need to be improved, as you have alleged and admitted to. And, certainly, we will continue to work on that. Well, let me ask a couple of questions. Secretary Miller, first I will ask you. Local jurisdictions may not be as familiar with the MOVE Act requirements, are less able to keep up with changing regulations, but are simultaneously tasked with running elections. Despite this, Secretaries of State are legally responsible for compliance with election law, causing some concern that their offices may be the target of a DOJ enforcement action. How can we better educate local jurisdictions about compliance? And what can State officials like yourself do both to better educate local jurisdictions like the cities and the counties and to protect themselves from costly legal disputes? Mr. Miller. Thank you, Dr. Gingrey. Again, Secretary of State Ross Miller from Nevada. You know, that may have been a more significant issue when the MOVE Act was first implemented. Speaking only from my perspective in Nevada, the local election officials are acutely aware of those deadlines. They work very closely with our office to ensure that those ballots are timely transmitted in time for the 45-day deadline and are fully aware of the fact that, should we fail to meet that deadline, the DOJ would come in with a fairly significant hammer. We had one local jurisdiction in the 2010 election that had an issue with their printer, and they had some 30-some ballots that were not transmitted within that 45-day deadline. We worked aggressively to make sure that all of those voters did, in fact, receive their ballots and, I think, resolved the situation to the Department of Justice's satisfaction. The issue that you pointed to, I think, is a good one, that on paper it seems like a good idea to hold the chief elections officer responsible for compliance with the MOVE Act, but the bottom line is that these local election officers don't work for the Secretary of State, in most instances. And so, while we can work to encourage them to try to meet the deadline, there really isn't much of a hammer. I don't think that any of those local election offices, at least in Nevada, are deliberately ignoring those timelines. Sometimes we have court challenges, we have other issues that come up that prevent us from being able to timely transmit those ballots. But it is a high priority, and it is Federal law. And I think, at this point, at least speaking from Nevada, we have done an outstanding job. We didn't have any issues in 2012. Mr. Gingrey. Oh, your numbers are fantastic. Let me go to Director Boehmer. An April 2013 report by the Department of Defense Inspector General, IG, noted that FVAP had data on its activities but little data on the effects of those activities. The IG recommended that FVAP develop and track metrics of the effectiveness of its programs. What progress has been made on developing these metrics, and when do you expect them to be implemented? Mr. Boehmer. Sir, thanks for the question. As you noted, the IG did make a recommendation for us to enhance our current metrics as well as develop new ones to show program effectiveness. As an assistance agency, we want to make sure that we are collecting the appropriate metrics and that FVAP is accountable under those metrics for the activities that we are actually responsible for. In order to help us with that, we actually engaged with a federally funded research and development center to take a look at what our responsibilities are and what are the appropriate metrics that would help with looking at effectiveness. We are currently right in the middle of that effort now. I am looking at seeing preliminary results from their work in the beginning of 2014, and we are hoping that we can have something to share with the Hill and your staff late spring. Mr. Gingrey. Madam Chairman, you have been very generous with the gavel. Can I go back to Secretary Miller for one last---- The Chairman. Sure. Mr. Gingrey. Thank you. Secretary Miller, you mentioned in your testimony that your office has taken advantage of legislation that will allow military and overseas voters to use electronic and digital signatures on election documents and to request, mark, and deliver a ballot to their county without the need of a printer or a scanner. Can you tell us more about the system you are working on to allow voters to mark and return ballots using this electronic signature method? And do you see, in particular, any security or voter integrity risk associated with the move in that direction? Mr. Miller. Thank you again, Dr. Gingrey. You know, our report when we returned clearly noted, again, that the preferred method of voting was the electronic transmission of the ballot. And that was the same feedback that the 2008 delegation had received. One of the issues that we explored in some depth in order to get around some of those security concerns is that the members of the military use a Common Access Card. And that card is unique to each individual that is within the military. They cannot log on to their system, as I understand it, without the use of that card, which further requires a PIN number to be entered. And so there is a high level of authentication in terms of who is on the other end of that computer terminal. And so, when I returned from this delegation tour, we went the next legislative session and changed the statutes to allow for the electronic transmission--not only the electronic transmission of the ballot, but for them to be able to fill out that ballot electronically and retransmit it to the local election officials using that Common Access Card. It is a process that the members of the military are very familiar with. Anytime they need to sign a document, they do so by attaching a digital signature through that system. In fact, as I understand it, they fill out their Federal tax forms using that same system, attaching that digital signature. The emails are encrypted. And so it clearly meets military standards for the safeguards that are in place. And so that is an issue that we explored, and we are, in fact, implementing it for the 2014 election. And so the way that all will work is, any member of the military or overseas voter would be able to register online to vote, because we are an online voter registration State. We will authenticate the identity of that voter by checking their driver's license number, the last four of their Social Security number, and their date of birth, and register them to vote. Then, moving through the next part of that process, we would send them their individualized ballot according to their precinct. They would be able to fill that out. It would then generate a PDF, which is the exact same way that the ballots were previously transmitted, encrypt it, and send it to the local election official, where they could then further authenticate the identity of that ballot and, should any questions arise, obviously, take the appropriate recourse. Mr. Gingrey. All right. Thank you both very much. The Chairman. The chair now recognizes the gentleman from California, Mr. Vargas. Mr. Vargas. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I appreciate it. I do want to follow some of the questions. First of all, thank you again for being here. Thank you for the work that you did. And I was happy to see that you are attempting to reduce the number of ballots that haven't been counted. I do have to say that I am--I was in politics, and I left politics for a while, went back to private practice. And then I ran for the State Senate, and I won by a whopping 22 votes. However, at the end of the counting of the votes, I had only won by 12. What had happened was that there was a process that wasn't followed in one of the counties whereby about 12,000 ballots were appropriately brought to the post office but the post office didn't deliver them to the registrar of voters. So they just sat on the deck there of the post office, 12,000 of them, about 500 in my particular area, the way the thing was set up. And I had already won, I had already won by 12 votes, but my opponent went to court to say that those 12,000, and in particular those 500, should be counted. And I agreed with that. I agreed. I thought, you know, I had read a lot of the letters that had been sent. There were a number of military personnel who said, ``That is not fair. I did what I was supposed to do. I voted. I took my ballot down to the post office on time. They forgot to deliver it to the registrar of voters.'' And so I didn't challenge that. I thought, well, they are right, you know? If I lose, I lose. I mean, I have already won, but, you know, it is the right thing to do. I had lost in that county, so I thought I was going to lose. But, you know, I think it is the right thing to do, and God always helps out those who try to do the right thing. But, anyway, so I just thought, I will do it. Turns out, I got another 10 votes out of it, so I won with a whopping--I almost doubled my victory. I always like to say I won by double digits. It was only 22 votes. But I do think that if, you know, there is some technicality like that, especially service personnel and our military, that we ought to bend over backwards to make sure that those votes are counted. I don't think that that is fair at all. Again, I have had that personal experience, and I just think you have to count those votes. You know, I have been to Afghanistan, too, also, to see how these poor guys and gals are out there defending our liberties, our freedoms. And for some technicality for their vote not to be counted, like that post office that, you know, the delivery guy just forget to take it to the registrar--they always had done it every year. The guy just forgot to do it, left it out there on the dock. If you could comment on that? Mr. Miller. Thank you, Mr. Vargas. Again, Ross Miller, Secretary of State, for the record. I don't know when this occurred. But what I can tell you, at least from the observations of the delegation, was that this is the highest priority for the military in order to be able to transmit these ballots. I think that the military clearly recognized, along with local and State election officials, that we had a problem and that, you know, many of these ballots that had been cast by our military and overseas voters weren't transmitted in time. And so they worked very aggressively to address that and, I think, have done an outstanding job. In fact, the U.S. Central Command issued a regulation, Regulation 2564, that mandates that absentee ballots shall be afforded the most expeditious handling and transmission possible. As I stated, they commonly refer to this as the fact that ballots go before beans and bullets in the priority of transportation of assets, that they walked us through ad nauseam the process of the military postal system. I saw more about the postal system than I think I wanted to see in tour after tour. And pointed out that, with every ballot, the military postal system applies an express mail service, Label 11-DOD, to each ballot from an overseas servicemember. And so what that means is that that is the highest priority within the postal system, is getting those ballots back in time so that the local election offices can count those. I don't think that was in place before the previous delegation tour and, clearly, in prior elections when we realized that we may have a problem with the timely delivery of ballots. But I think they have largely corrected it, or at least that is the hope. Mr. Vargas. Okay. Great. And I look forward to that app. I think that is a good idea, Doctor, that these students come up with an app so we can have the technology. So thank you. Thanks again, Madam Chair. The Chairman. Thank you. We are going to start calling you ``Landslide Vargas'' over there. But that is interesting, because the Senate districts in California are larger than the congressional districts, so to win by 22 votes even after that, that is---- Mr. Brady. Double digits. The Chairman. Double digits. That is something. The chair now recognizes Representative Rokita from Indiana, former Secretary of State. Mr. Rokita. I thank the chair. And I thank the witnesses for their testimony here today. Mr. Boehmer--is that how you pronounce it? Mr. Boehmer. Yes. Mr. Rokita. I appreciate your leadership over at what we lovingly call FVAP. And thank you for you and your whole team's continued work. I haven't had a chance to meet or work with staff members and leaders of any agency here, yet in Congress, that I think met the level of professionalism and sophistication and care for what their job was, than I did when I got to work as former Secretary of State with FVAP. So thank you. Secretary Miller, thank you for being here, as well. It is good to see you. You remind me of older and simpler times, but definitely good times. Very interested to learn a couple things from you. How many other States accept the Common Access Card method of doing things? Do you happen to know? I don't mean to put you on the spot, but you are the NASS president, and with that paycheck comes extreme responsibility, sir, to know all these things. Mr. Miller. Thank you, Congressman Rokita, for indeed putting me on the spot as the former NASS president. Mr. Rokita. I would be interested to know. Yes. Mr. Miller. And it is a pleasure to have a question from my former mentor, a fine mentor at the National Secretaries of State Association. I can't give you the specific figures as to how many States employ the use of the Common Access Card. I don't think many do. But there are a couple of States that will at least allow for the electronic transmission of the ballots back to the election offices. Notably, Montana has a system in place that is similar to Nevada's. That is where we copied our legislation from, along with Washington. And my understanding is that both of those States have seen enormous success. They have seen higher participation rates among the members of the military as a result of that. I know that there are some vendors in the room today, in fact, that have this technology and have really worked to try to capitalize on marketing that towards other offices, should they want to take advantage of it. Mr. Rokita. Thank you, Ross. Thinking back to our time together and remembering things I was concerned about--and this is new information to me, but I am very interested in it and intrigued by it--what are the distractions from this process? What would a hardliner like Rokita have thought, back when he was Secretary of State, about the Common Access Card and its vulnerabilities? Or would I have loved it? Mr. Miller. Well, that is another difficult question, Congressman Rokita, as to what you would have thought of it. But I think---- Mr. Rokita. It sounds great---- Mr. Miller [continuing]. Some of the reservations that were pointed out in 2008, along with 2012, is that with what is commonly referred to as Internet voting, there would be all kinds of problems with security. And I think maybe many Secretaries of State across the country would acknowledge that. The use of the Common Access Card, I think, largely resolves a lot of the concerns that people may have with it, because you can definitively identify the other individual on the other end of the terminal. Mr. Rokita. Yes. Mr. Miller. Clearly, there may be some concerns about how appropriately the email is encrypted when it goes back to the election office so that it couldn't be grabbed out there in cyberspace and in any way manipulated and have somebody---- Mr. Rokita. You are dangerously walking close to another hearing, so--the subject matter of another hearing. Mr. Miller. But, you know, this is a system that is in place in the military. It clearly meets their needs where they deal with issues of high-level national security, and so I think it should be explored. Clearly, in Nevada, we are comfortable with it. Our legislation, despite the fight we are a significant battleground State, it passed in an overwhelmingly bipartisan fashion when we walked through the security protocols with the transmission of the ballots. Mr. Rokita. That is great to hear. Thank you for your leadership at NASS, too. By the way, I was able to weasel myself onto that first trip in 2008, and it was an amazing trip. A lot of what you described in your report was similar to what we found, as your testimony indicates. The priority, as I remember it--and correct me if I am wrong--was that the ballots came only second to, unfortunately, bodies. It was bodies first, then ballots. That is what we were told, and that is what we saw, fortunately and unfortunately. Do you have any different recollection or different observation than that? Mr. Miller. I don't. That may very well be the case. I know through their regulation it says it is given the highest priority, but there may well be a legitimate and understandable exception for---- Mr. Rokita. Absolutely. Mr. Miller [continuing]. The transmission of bodies back to the U.S. Mr. Rokita. Here is--and I would hope that the Chairman would just give me a little bit of time with the gavel here. The Chairman. Certainly. Mr. Rokita. A question for both of you, and then I will be quiet. I don't remember the answer to this or if there is an answer to this, but let's assume there was a servicemember in Indiana, lived in Indiana his or her whole life. At the age of 18, enlisted. Trained, let's say, in Georgia. Then may have, right before deployment, gone to Nevada, to one of your bases. Where is this person supposed to vote? Mr. Miller. Thank you. I will take a stab at this, although it is not my area of expertise. And I think it may depend upon Federal law. But my understanding is that that voter can designate the residency of their choice. And so, if they wanted to, they could designate that their residency is in Nevada. By default, as I understand it, their residency is their last residence as of their deployment date. And this ties in to some of the complexities with local and State election offices being able to identify that voter's residence so that we could send that individualized communication. But one of the things that I still do not understand, in terms of those barriers, is that somewhere in the Federal Government, you have to know where our troops live. Somebody knows. And if they have that information, why can't they share it with FVAP and the local and State election offices so that we would be able to provide that communication so that they wouldn't be left to guess as to which jurisdiction they live in and what those rules and procedures are. Mr. Rokita. That is an excellent assignment, I think, perhaps, for us. So thank you for that. Matt. Mr. Boehmer. Before I start answering your question, thank you very much for the compliment to the FVAP staff. I am honored to be in this position but more honored to work with a highly dedicated team of experts and professionals who do nothing but all day make sure that our military members, their families, and overseas citizens do have the voting assistance that they need and deserve. So thank you, sir, for that recognition. Where a military member votes is incredibly complex. And as we talk about one of the challenges even for a servicemember, him or herself, that could be a question that they ask. On our Web site, we do have some guidance to them. And it certainly can be their legal residence. For some who are young, it could be their home of record. As you know---- Mr. Rokita. Do States determine this still, by and large? Or is there a Federal statute that---- Mr. Boehmer. Actually, the military member would determine that. They can actually change their legal residence. So, as you can tell, because this is a very mobile population, changing addresses is something that is complex. And it is something that we try to help our military members and their families with, again, providing them with that information and awareness about what their legal State of residence could be and then asking them to work with their JAG officers, their legal counsel in their units to help them determine what that residence actually is. So we will give them some guidance and some advice, but it is almost that that bottom-line answer is: Consult your legal person in your unit; they should be able to help you figure this out. Mr. Rokita. I thank the Chair for her indulgence. The Chairman. Thank you very much. And I certainly just want to thank--does the ranking member have any further questions? No? Okay. I just want to thank our witnesses again, both of you, for coming so very, very much. It has been, I think, a very good hearing. I know I have taken a couple of notes, talking to my staff here in the back, that we want to take a look at, in particular, this Military Postal Service. And, particularly, Mr. Vargas talking about all the mail left out on the tarmac there, so to speak, of the postal service, and what we can do to coordinate that better. That is a great suggestion, something we maybe can take a look at, as well. And I also have been, just as Mr. Rokita--I mean, I listened to this CAC card and thought, well, I don't know how that would work, but yet it sounds like something that has worked, that your State legislature has agreed to in a bipartisan way. And so it is something that really, I think, merits looking into, as well, and is very interesting, as well. But I, again, just want to thank you all very much. And I hope you continue to look at this committee as a resource both for FVAP and NASS, as well. And I know you have the executive director of NASS that is in the audience here today, as well, who does a remarkable job, Leslie Reynolds. And this committee really wants to work very closely with the Secretaries and all of our customers, particularly those in the military, to make sure that we do everything that we possibly can to expedite their voting rights and assistance in however we can. We are always looking for input and suggestions, comments on how we can better that process, certainly. So thank you very much for your attendance today. Look forward to working with you. The committee now stands adjourned. [Whereupon, at 12:50 p.m., the committee was adjourned.] [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]