Dupage Policy Journal

U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and all of her colleagues on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform recently wrote a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to request a review of the Department of Defense's (DOD) Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP).

Duckworth is also the ranking member of the Oversight Committee's Subcommittee on Transportation and Public Assets.

 

Based on recent reports, military service members and citizens living abroad may be experiencing difficulties casting absentee ballots.

“Being able to vote is a right all Americans should have – especially those serving in our armed forces,” Duckworth said. “I look forward to the review of the FVAP program, and will continue working to ensure our bravest citizens are not met with barriers when trying to exercise their right to participate in our democracy.”

A report published by the Heritage Foundation indicates that 75 to 80 percent of military voters were disenfranchised by the inability to obtain an absentee ballot during the 2008 election.

“Public reports indicate that veterans and their families have had a hard time casting their absentee ballots in various states,” the lawmakers said in the letter. “The Department of Defense’s Federal Voting Assistance Program was created to ensure that our service members fighting abroad to protect the rights of all Americans don’t lose their opportunity to vote in federal elections at home.”