Buescher responds to MOVE Act waiver declined by the Federal Voting Assistance Program

Denver, August 27, 2010 – Today, Secretary of State Bernie Buescher learned that the Federal Voting Assistance Program declined a waiver to Colorado from the MOVE Act’s 45-day mailing mandate. Currently, Colorado state law requires counties to mail ballots to overseas voters 30 days before the election with an additional eight days granted to count overseas military votes after the election. Buescher issued the following statement:

“From the beginning, Colorado has stated that our overseas voters deserve a 100 percent, proof-read ballot free of errors,” Buescher said. “I have informed our counties to abide by the 45-day mandate as a result of the waiver denial and instructed them, to the best of their ability under this tight timeframe, to minimize the risk of inaccuracies on the ballot and make every effort to preserve the confidentiality of these voters.

“We will also continue our efforts this year working with the Department of Defense and several counties like El Paso, Weld and Denver on a secure pilot project aimed at electronic transmission of ballots to our overseas voters. Undoubtedly, our aim is to use reliable and secure technology that matches the resources available to our overseas voters. As I talk with more and more of our service men and women, who have voted overseas, I hear we should be moving more to an electronic transmission system and away from snail mail.

“Coloradans can continue to be proud of our overseas voter policies. In many ways, the MOVE Act raised the bar nationwide to standards already set by Colorado. Though not an ideal scenario, we’ll make every effort to ensure that an actual ballot is also sent as soon as practicable and continue to take advantage of electronic transmission options.”