Since its re-establishment as a state League in 1947, the League of Women Voters of Virginia has supported the simplification and improvement of the election laws of the Commonwealth to facilitate and increase registration and voting. League members reiterated this support during the organization’s recently completed update study of Virginia’s election laws. The League believes that measures should be adopted to increase the availability of voter registration, especially those that utilize technological advances or provide cost savings. We believe that the proposed policy of allowing Virginia’s eligible military and overseas citizens using the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) to register to vote to submit the application by e-mail or fax is one of these measures that should be adopted. Adopting the proposed policy will further indicate the Commonwealth’s support and compliance with the MOVE Act purposes as well as its requirements; it will also show special support for those members of the military who are serving our country overseas.   We often read about – or ourselves have experienced – problems with delayed and lost mail. Imagine the problems of our citizens in isolated and dangerous areas of the world where there is no local post office or mailbox that can be used with assurance that a mailed registration form will get to a local registrar’s office by the deadline.  We support the use of fax or e-mail for this purpose. The League of Women Voters of Virginia is happy to support adoption of the proposed policy. 

Therese Martin, for Olga Hernandez, President, LWV-VA

This comment is my personal opinion, not that of my employer.

I am a Foreign Service Officer and served overseas on orders for the last 4 years. This would support military and federal civilian employees who serve our country overseas and are Virginia residents. Foreign Service employees are subject to moves on orders every 2-4 years like the military.

I have served as a Consular Officer and assisted U.S. citizens with voting while overseas. Mailing in a ballot is not always an option overseas. Fax and email options for Virginia voters would make it possible for them to vote if they are in a country with unreliable mail service (or if it's too dangerous for them to travel in country) and they can't get to a U.S. Embassy or Consulate to turn in their ballots. I support applications for registration and absentee ballot requests using the FCPA!

Angela Palazzolo

What a great idea.  Military people risk their lives for us.  Let's make voting as easy as possible for these guys.  Some of these people serve overseas in areas where the mail is not reliable or expendinet - making our military people rely on snail mail is crazy.  Please, please make this easier!

The one litmus test I apply to any change to election law is "Does it benefit the voter?"

As a retired Navy Chief Petty Officer with over 20 years of service, I am very familiar with the obstacles that face our service members. As an election professional, I favor actions that will make access to the voting process easier, and this proposed action will benefit military and non-military voters.

Therefore, when applied to the proposed action, the answer to my question is an emphatic "YES!"

This is my personal view and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of anyone other than myself. However, I sincerely hope that enough people agree so that the proposed action becomes the norm.

There is no question that the proposed regulation will help overseas voters who are not already registered.  However, it provides a benefit to overseas applicants that is prohibited under Virginia Law for domestic applicants.  In this decade, a general registrar has been terminated for accepting voter applications via fascimile. 

Adoption of this policy creates a separate and special class of unregistered citizens who have a benefit not given to ALL unregistered citizens.  What does this do to the concept of uniformity?  How does this reconcile with the concept of "equal protection under the law"?  Can SBE actually change law or create new law? 

I would suggest changing this from a policy to a resolution encouraging the general assembly to make appropriate law changes in a uniform manner to achieve the goal desired.

UOCAVA voters (generally persons in the military, persons who live overseas, and the familites of both) have the obstacles of distance and access to overcome when registering to vote that voters who live in Virginia do not.  The proposed regulation would help remove those obstacles by extending the option of registering by electronic means to UOCAVA voters.  Unfortunately, the proposed regulation extends the electronic registration to any UOCAVA voter -- those who live or are posted in the US as well as those who live or are posted overseas.  This gives the UOCAVA voters who live in the US an advantage not enjoyed by other voters.  To mitigate this disparity, it is suggested that the electronic registration be extended only to those UOCAVA voters who live or are posted outside the continental U.S.