The Justice Department (DOJ) and the state of Illinois have
reached an agreement that officials says will "help ensure that military
service members and other U.S. citizens living overseas have an opportunity to
participate fully in the Nov. 2, 2010, federal general election."
The agreement was necessary to ensure Illinois's compliance
with the 2009 Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE Act).
Ballots sent late
The settlement, which must be approved by the federal
district court in Chicago, was filed in conjunction with a lawsuit that claimed
the state violated federal law when numerous election authorities in Illinois
counties failed to transmit ballots by Sept. 18, 2010, to military and overseas
voters who requested absentee ballots. In addition, some counties failed to
transmit ballots electronically to other voters who had made such requests.
The agreement provides additional time beyond the state's
existing Nov. 16, 2010, deadline -- 14 days after election day -- for receipt
of ballots from military and overseas voters in six counties. It also extends
the date by which ballots from those counties must be postmarked from Nov. 1 to
Nov. 2, 2010.
In addition, the agreement requires that any voters who
asked to receive their ballots electronically, but were sent the ballot by mail
instead, will be sent a ballot by the requested electronic method.
A question of time
The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act
(UOCAVA) requires states to allow uniformed service voters -- serving both
overseas and within the United States -- and their families and overseas
citizens to register to vote and to vote absentee for all elections for federal
office.
In 2009, Congress enacted the MOVE Act, which made broad
amendments to UOCAVA. Among those
changes was a requirement that states transmit absentee ballots to voters
covered under UOCAVA, by mail or electronically at the voter's option, no later
than 45 days before federal elections.
"The Justice Department is committed to vigorous
enforcement of the MOVE Act so that members of the uniformed services, their
families and other citizens living overseas are able to exercise their right to
vote and know their votes will be counted," said Thomas E. Perez,
Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "I am pleased that we are able to reach
this agreement with Illinois officials, which will ensure that the state's
military and overseas voters can participate in the upcoming federal
elections."
As part of the agreement, the state will take steps to
investigate the cause of the late mailing of ballots and failure to transmit
ballots electronically and to ensure compliance in future federal elections and
provide a report to DOJ on those efforts.
Other cases settled
DOJ previously reached agreements with Alaska, Colorado, the
District of Columbia, Hawaii, Kansas, Mississippi, Nevada, North Dakota and the
U.S. Virgin Islands; and filed lawsuits against New York, New Mexico, Wisconsin
and Guam seeking relief to help ensure that military service members and other
U.S. citizens living overseas have the opportunity to participate fully in the
upcoming election.
Consent decrees were reached with New York, New Mexico and Wisconsin, and a court-entered injunction was issued in the Guam case.
