New MFEI report uncovers faulty processes and implementation at federal and state levels. Recommends solutions.
For Immediate Release
Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Contact: Kristine Christlieb
817.528.9471
STOCKBRIDGE, Mich. — A Michigan policy institute is digging into U.S. and Michigan laws governing overseas voting, and it is finding gaps that noncitizens could exploit.
In today’s release of Failure of UOCAVA: Potential for Noncitizen Voting in Our Elections, Michigan Fair Elections Institute (MFEI) identifies four points of system failure in the federal system for processing overseas civilian registrations and absentee ballots. The report also shows five points of system failure in Michigan’s administration of overseas voting. Failure of UOCAVA recommends solutions to the issues plaguing UOCAVA at both the federal and state levels.
Absentee overseas ballots can make the difference in close races, and they have come under increasing scrutiny. The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) became a center of focus during the 2024 election after the Democrat National Committee (DNC) announced in August that it was investing "six figures" to register up to nine million overseas voters.
“The math didn’t jive,” said Patrice Johnson, chair of MFEI. “The Defense Department estimates that about 2.8 million voting-aged citizens live overseas, so when the DNC announced plans to register 9 million overseas voters, we found the six million discrepancy puzzling." The Federal Post Card Application allows overseas applicants to register online without showing ID, giving their Social Security number, or proving their residency in a state. Johnson and Frederick Woodward, a fellow MFEI supporter, began to investigate, Who were these extra six million potential registrants, and were they citizens?
Come to find out, people mistakenly think of overseas ballots as military when only 19% to 23% come from military service members or their families. “About 80 percent actually come from non-military civilians,” Johnson said. “We want our military service members to vote, and they all have IDs. It's the lack of vetting of overseas civilians that raises red flags. Applicants can register online and never show ID or prove residency. No one is even checking to see if they are citizens.”
The problem dates back to 1986 when the election laws changed to allow non-military overseas civilians to register and sometimes vote electronically. Some states, including Michigan, allow clerks to email registrants their ballots. Michigan does not allow overseas registrants to return their ballots via email, but some states do.
In a 2020 interview IN: [1:13] with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Susan Rice urged Americans living in Canada to vote. Rice, former President Obama’s national security advisor and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the CBC, “I really want to underscore to the Americans in Canada that this is their election, and they ought to register very quickly and vote.”
Rice went on to quantify the number of votes at stake. “You know there are 620,000 estimated Americans in Canada who are eligible to vote right now. . . . When you consider that many of these Americans abroad, including in Canada, come from what are now swing states, like for example, Michigan, in 2016 the margin for victory for Donald Trump in Michigan was 11,000 votes, so Americans in Canada can make an enormous difference.”
Michigan's Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is required by law to set up a system for overseas military service members to cast their ballots through a secure electronic system using their military issued Common Access Cards. But she has not yet implemented the mandated process for accepting their ballots through the CAC system.
Mail-in absentee ballots from civilians are far from secure.
The MFEI report identifies four weaknesses in the federal UOCAVA process.
The original legislative aim of UOCAVA has been diluted, grown overly broad, and become ambiguous. UOCAVA errs in treating active military service members and overseas civilians in the same way.
Current federal eligibility requirements are lacking.
UOCAVA registration applications lack critical points for information verification.
Current wording of FPCA allows for unvetted overseas UOCAVA registrants to be placed on the voter rolls and remain there after their UOCAVA designation expires in 12 months.
Cleta Mitchell, founder of the Election Integrity Network, provided context. “UOCAVA was originally designed to make it easier for active military service members to vote, but the procedure has mutated into rolling out a welcome mat for foreigners to vote in our elections, with no proof of citizenship or even that the voter is overseas. UOCAVA now represents an existential threat to our republic.”
Mitchell recommended that UOCAVA be overhauled. “It must be separated into two statutes: one for military personnel and a separate statute and process for civilian citizens living overseas. The overseas voting laws must require proof of citizenship, identity, and overseas residency on every non-military overseas applicant who seeks to register and vote in U.S. elections.”
Each state has its own procedure for administering UOCAVA ballots.
The MFEI analysis found the following weaknesses in Michigan’s procedures:
Current SOS directives tell clerks to afford overseas civilians "protected status" and register UOCAVA applicants without checking identity or eligibility.
Current SOS directives tell clerks to send UOCAVA registrants an absentee ballot without verifying identity or eligibility.
Current Michigan law allows unclear or un-postmarked ballots from any carrier to be accepted and counted six days after Election Day, and it runs the risk of allowing unverified overseas voters to become active non-UOCAVA voters.
UOCAVA allows registrants to receive ballots from states in which they have never resided.
No definitive citizenship match is required for clerks to register UOCAVA applicants or count their ballots.
GOP Congressional leaders have indicated noncitizen voting will be among the top legislative initiative in January. In addition to identifying UOCAVA’s systemic points of failure, MFEI’s report contains important recommendations for new legislation.
Election law expert Attorney Erick Kaardal said the MFEI report “reflects solid investigation, great analysis and easy-to-follow recommendations.”
Kaardal, a partner in Mohrman, Kaardal and Erickson, P.A., also pointed out, “Michigan is far behind the other states in stopping election abuses by overseas voters and noncitizens. The Michigan Secretary of State and other election officials should follow MFEI’s recommendations to improve Michigan’s elections.”
Michigan Fair Elections Institute is a Michigan-based, non-profit 501(c)3 organization. Its local task forces are dedicated to restoring fair and honest elections through education, local citizen participation and litigation. MFEI continues to remain at the forefront of defending the U.S. Constitution, citizen rights and election integrity through education and counter lawfare.
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