Department of Justice Seal Department of Justice
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FRIDAY, APRIL 16, 2004
WWW.USDOJ.GOV
CRT
(202) 514-2008
TDD (202) 514-1888

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FILES SUIT AGAINST PENNSYLVANIA TO ENFORCE RIGHTS OF OVERSEAS MILITARY AND CIVILIAN CITIZENS TO VOTE IN FEDERAL PRIMARY ELECTION


WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice announced a lawsuit today, filed in federal court in Harrisburg, seeking an emergency order requiring Pennsylvania election officials to take steps to ensure that qualified overseas voters have a reasonable opportunity to participate in the state's April 27 primary election for President, U.S. Senate, and members of Congress. The suit was necessary because state election officials failed to mail out requested absentee ballots to Pennsylvania citizens living overseas in sufficient time for them to vote in the upcoming primary.

“This suit seeks both immediate and permanent relief to ensure that Pennsylvania voters overseas - including members of the armed forces and their families -- will be able to vote in this and future elections,” said R. Alexander Acosta, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “Particularly when our armed forces are so actively engaged, we must vigorously protect overseas citizens’ franchise.”

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Harrisburg, alleges that without judicial relief, qualified Pennsylvania voters living overseas will not be able to vote in the federal primary election because, despite federal requirements and state law deadlines, many election officials did not mail their absentee ballots in time for overseas voters to receive and return them while they can still be counted.

The Department of Defense's Federal Voting Assistance Program officials, who oversee the administration of the federal law guaranteeing the rights of overseas voters to vote in federal elections, determined that Pennsylvania's schedule for mailing overseas absentee ballots was simply too short to allow a reasonable chance for those voters to vote. The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) requires states to allow uniformed services voters and other overseas citizens to register to vote and vote absentee for all elections for federal office.

The Justice Department is asking the court to order a 14-day extension of the deadline for overseas ballots to be accepted, from April 23 to May 7; to allow voters to return their absentee ballots by faster means than regular mail; and to allow voters to utilize a special federal write-in absentee ballot if they do not receive their state absentee ballot in time. Federal write-in ballots are widely available at military bases and embassies around the world. The federal write-in ballot was authorized by the UOCAVA as a "back-up" ballot if voters did not receive their state ballots for federal general elections on time.

The Department of Justice has brought numerous suits under this law to ensure that overseas voters are not deprived of an opportunity to vote due to late mailing of absentee ballots by election officials. In 1988, the Department of Justice brought a similar suit against Pennsylvania for late mailing of overseas ballots and a federal district court entered relief extending the deadline for receipt of overseas absentee ballots. Pennsylvania also had late mailing problems in 1990 and 2002, and in those instances voluntarily agreed to extend the deadline for counting overseas ballots.

More information about the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act and other federal voting laws is available on the Department of Justice Internet site, www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting. Complaints about discriminatory voting practices may be called in to the Voting Section of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division at 1-800-253-3931.

###

04-245