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Full opening statement as prepared for delivery:
Before we begin, it's not lost on me, as a veteran of the United States Air Force who did two overseas tours, that while we are here today discussing how we can make it easier for active-duty military to vote, our troops serving overseas are serving our nation in harms way on a daily basis.
Now more than ever, it’s important that we are doing all we can to support our troops who are putting their lives on the line for this country.
I am thankful for their service, and I am praying for their safe return home.
Free, fair and secure elections are the cornerstone of our democracy, and it’s our brave service members that defend that right for all Americans.
As the Committee with oversight authority of federal elections, it is important that we take a look at the laws and procedures in place for our active-duty military voters.
More specifically, we will be looking at the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, commonly referred to as UOCAVA, and the Federal Voting Assistance Program, to provide oversight and determine if improvements are needed.
UOCAVA, which was enacted in 1986, is the only federal statute that is solely devoted to protecting the access to vote for active-duty military, their family members, and other overseas citizens.
UOCAVA has not been subject to significant congressional oversight in over a decade.
The Federal Voting Assistance Program, or FVAP, is responsible for administering daily responsibilities of UOCAVA under the direction of the Secretary of Defense.
In other words, the FVAP is responsible for helping our service-members vote in their respective state and local jurisdictions.
Both UOCAVA and the FVAP ensure that service-members who want to vote have the opportunity to do so.
According to the FVAP, approximately 950,000 active-duty military are eligible to vote under UOCAVA.
However, not every active-duty service member registers to vote.
During the 2022 general election, 63% of active-duty military voters covered by UOCAVA, both in the United States and abroad, successfully registered to vote.
Unfortunately, an even smaller percentage of those who registered actually cast their ballot. In the 2022 general election, only 26% of active-duty military voters covered by UOCAVA cast their ballot for the election.
However, in their most recent report to Congress, FVAP highlighted that active-duty military who sought assistance from FVAP were three times more likely to cast their ballot.
In 2022, the FVAP distributed nearly 200,000 pieces of educational and outreach materials to voters at 105 military installations worldwide.
Additionally, the FVAP responded to over 12,000 inquiries to its call center.
While the FVAP has made strong headway with boosting voter participation amongst UOCAVA voters, there is more that can be done.
Every registered American citizen should have the resources they need to participate in our democracy.
Our service members who put their lives on the line to defend that same democracy should not be an exception.
I hope today we are able to find ways to increase turnout among active-duty military voters ahead of the 2026 general election.
I thank our witnesses for being here today and I look forward to having a robust conversation with all of you on this critical issue.
Before I close my remarks, I would like highlight that we’ll be test-piloting new closed caption technology during today’s hearing.
This technology was approved by the Subcommittee on Modernization & Innovation, and will soon be available to all House Committees.
I thank our witnesses for being here today and I look forward to our discussion.
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