Federal Voting Assistance Program: Difference between revisions

|Purpose=To ensure that members of the U.S. military, their eligible family members, and overseas citizens are aware of their right to vote and have the necessary tools to do so from anywhere in the world. FVAP works to facilitate absentee voting in federal elections.

The Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) is a component of the Office of the [[Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness]] (P&R). FVAP administers the federal responsibilities of the [[Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act]] (UOCAVA) of 1986. FVAP was created under the Federal Voting Assistance Act of 1955 that was signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to assist [[United States Armed Forces#Personnel|military service members]], [[United States federal civil service|civilian federal government employees]], and their families to vote by absentee ballot.<ref>{{cite report|last=Garrett|first=R. Sam|date=October 26, 2016|title=The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act: Overview and Issues|publisher=Congressional Research Service|page=9|url=https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RS/RS20764|access-date=December 16, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{uspl|84|296}}, {{usstat|69|584}}</ref>  The act has been amended on several occasions, the most notable of which was the [[Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act]] (MOVE) in 2009. The act covers more than six million potential voters: active duty members of the [[Uniformed services of the United States|Uniformed Services]], including the [[United States Coast Guard|Coast Guard]], [[United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps|Public Health Service Commissioned Corps]], the [[United States Merchant Marine|Merchant Marine]], the [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] (NOAA), and their voting-age dependents, as well as U.S. citizens residing outside the United States. FVAP acts on behalf of the [[United States Secretary of Defense]], who is UOCAVA's presidential designee per [[Executive order (United States)|Executive Order]] [[Executive Order 12642|12642]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fvap.gov/info/about|title=About FVAP|website=Federal Voting Assistance Program|access-date=2016-08-03}}</ref>