How do you overcome voter apathy in the United States? Since 1990, the nonpartisan non-profit Rock the Vote has encouraged young voters to get out and rock the vote. One area of young people especially affected by voter apathy is the military, and it isn’t necessarily for the reasons expected. The challenges of voting via absentee ballot are especially difficult for military members who frequently move or deploy and are unable to update with a current address in the timeframe that voter registration requires or the ballot is never received in the state. VotingWorks hopes to fill that gap.
According to the Federal Voting Assistance Program, 75% of eligible military members vote absentee due to being stationed away from their home precincts. If a service member is deployed, receiving the absentee ballot with enough time to complete and enough time for it to be received in a timely manner is challenging. In 2020, FVAP found that military voter turnout was 27 percentage points lower than civilian voters with similar characteristics.
VotingWorks is working on technology that would specifically improve the military absentee statistic. This is in answer to a research project funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to address the challenges of service members voting in their home districts while stationed elsewhere. The project has specific goals, including casting the ballot and confirming that the vote was counted.
The current solution is a digitally encrypted ballot on a deployable terminal using the military common access card (CAC). In a time period when secure networks and computers can be utilized at home by service members, why can’t a CAC be utilized to authenticate and digitally complete and sign a voting ballot? The deployable terminal would then print a paper ballot with a mailing label and send it to the service member’s home state. The paper ballot ensures that there is a ballot available for the audit which typically occurs four weeks after the election.
There are logistical challenges to overcome – submarines, for instance, are not going to be able to transmit ballots. Working out the logistics will take time and effort, but any increase in voter turnout is a move in the right direction. Military service members train and are ready to lay down their life for their country, their vote should be counted and matter.
