FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CRT

FRIDAY, JULY 28, 2006 (202) 514-2007

WWW.USDOJ.GOV TDD (202) 514-1888

Justice Department Reaches

Agreement with Pennsylvania
to Protect Voting Rights of Military
and Overseas Citizens
WASHINGTON - The Justice Department today announced that it has reached an
agreement with Pennsylvania officials to help ensure that military and overseas
voters have an opportunity to participate fully in the state’s federal elections. The
agreement resolves a lawsuit filed by the Civil Rights Division in 2004 to enforce
the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA).

“I am pleased to see that state officials in Pennsylvania have made a commitment to

giving military members and overseas voters a meaningful opportunity to participate
in the State’s elections,” said Wan J. Kim, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil
Rights Division. “During a time when so many of our nation's men and women are
in harm's way while serving their country, it is critical that we vigorously enforce
the right of all our citizens overseas to participate in this most fundamental aspect of
our democratic process.” The Justice Department filed a lawsuit in 2004 lawsuit
after certain county election officials failed to mail out requested absentee ballots to
Pennsylvania citizens living overseas in sufficient time for them to vote in that
year’s April 27 federal primary election. After an emergency hearing by a federal
judge in Harrisburg, the Department obtained relief requiring Pennsylvania election
officials to take steps to ensure qualified overseas voters a reasonable opportunity to
participate in the election.

The Justice Department agreed that the case now could be dismissed in light of
remedial legislation enacted by the commonwealth and signed into law by Governor
Rendell on May 12, 2006. The new law provides that ballots cast by UOCAVA
voters will be accepted if they are received no later than the seventh day after the
election and postmarked by the day before the election. Under the terms of the
agreement filed today, which must be approved by the federal district court in
Harrisburg, the commonwealth also will monitor and report on the timeliness of the
counties’ absentee ballot mailings through the 2008 federal general elections. If
during that time counties fail to timely mail ballots to military and overseas voters,
the Department of Justice can return to the court to seek a further order to ensure
voters are not disenfranchised.

The 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 has brought numerous suits under UOCAVA to ensure that
voters are not deprived of an opportunity to vote due to late mailing of absentee
ballots by election officials. In 2004, the Department obtained an emergency order
in Georgia to remedy late mailing problems, and last year Georgia adopted
legislation to ensure long-term UOCAVA compliance and resolve the lawsuit. The
Department also recently remedied structural problems with the primary run-off
timetables in Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina. After suit was filed,
North Carolina entered into a voluntary agreement with the Civil Rights Division on
an emergency plan to address the issue for the 2006 primary elections, and Alabama
and South Carolina adopted remedial legislation to resolve these UOCAVA
violations.

More information about the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act
and other federal voting laws is available on the Department of Justice website at
http://www.usdoj.gov/. 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.

###

06-474