Bill to ease the absentee voting process for active duty service members becomes law

A bill that would ensure that U.S. military service members are provided with ballots and registration cards necessary to vote while deployed overseas was signed into law by President Donald Trump.

The Military Voting Protection Act – introduced by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) – was included as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The U.S. Senate approved the NDAA on Dec. 17.

In addition to ensuring that service members have ballots and registration cards necessary to vote while deployed overseas, they will receive instruction from trained personnel on how to cast their vote in their registered state

“Soldiers, airmen, sailors, and marines regularly put their lives on the line to defend our democracy, and it’s only right they have ample opportunity to fully participate in that democracy,” Cornyn said. “This law will ensure that all service members’ voices will be heard, regardless of whether they’re donning the uniform at home or abroad.”

Voting by active duty service members voting by absentee ballot dropped between the 2012 and 2016 elections as many found the process too complicated, Cornyn said. Under this law, a deployed service member will receive a briefing on how to fill out the Federal Post Card Applications absentee voter registration application as well as the ballot application for the state in which they are registered to vote.