A new study from Count Every Hero found that the absentee ballots of overseas military voters could significantly impact the November 3 election results and whether those ballots are counted could be decided by a wide variety of state laws.
Washington, DC — As the 2020 general election approached, Count Every Hero released a comprehensive report—Military Voting in All 50 States—documenting the disparate and inconsistent standards across the country that threatened the ability of military voters to have their ballots counted. Even though the majority of overseas service members vote by absentee ballot and federal and state legislatures enacted laws to improve the absentee voting process, challenges persist.
The report analyzed voting access for uniformed service members and their families across all 50 states, focusing on ballot deadlines, transit times, and the associated electoral college votes. The results revealed troubling inconsistencies. For example, while federal law mandates ballot access for overseas military voters, states retain significant discretion over deadlines and ballot acceptance criteria—creating confusion, delays, and in some cases, disenfranchisement.
The report highlighted that military and overseas ballots can decide elections, but those ballots may still be in transit on Election Day. A majority of states continue to accept and count military ballots for a limited period after Election Day, and these states’ votes represent a significant portion of the Electoral College votes needed to reach the 270-vote threshold.
Count Every Hero is committed to ensuring all service members’ votes are counted, no matter where they cast their ballot.
Read the report.