Military voting chief vows absentee help

WASHINGTON, July 20 (UPI) -- The new director of the U.S. Defense Department's Federal Voting Assistance Program says he wants to improve its absentee ballot efforts.

FVAP's new leader, Bob Carey, a Navy reservist and overseas voter advocate, was appointed to the job last month. He told Monday's Stars and Stripes he will try to ensure that overseas military and civilian voters are afforded the same chance to successfully cast a ballot as stateside absentee voters have.

Carey takes office after an Overseas Vote Foundation survey released earlier this year indicated that more than half of overseas U.S. voters who requested an absentee ballot didn't get one in time for last November's election, the newspaper said.

"A lot of this is driven by what the state laws are," Carey said. "There's only so much we can do before bumping into state laws. The obstacles are what is currently in place. (Ballots) need to be sent out sooner and electronically."

FVAP and Carey will try to convince state officials to approve more electronic transmission options for ballots, such as the e-mailing of forms, thus bypassing the delays of "snail mail," especially in reaching troops stationed in remote locations, Stars and Stripes said.