Defending Votes: The Unique Problems of Military Voters

Abstract

Throughout This Analysis, the military and overseas civilian voting populations have been treated equally, with the groups being referred to collectively as “UOCAVA voters,” after the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act. However, as noted in Chapter 1, one of the largest shortcomings of the UOCAVA literature is that it does not identify nor discuss important similarities and differences between these voting blocs. In regard to similarities, for example, the size of the voting populations of the two groups is roughly similar, as seen in Chapter 2. As of September 2012, there were approximately 1.4 million active duty military personnel, of which 173,930 (12.5 percent) were stationed abroad (Department of Defense (DoD) 2013, 3, 30). If civilian personnel, reserve personnel, and military spouses and dependents were included with active duty personnel, there are approximately 6 million military personnel and dependents who are potential UOCAVA voters.