In the past two years, 47 states and the District of Columbia enacted laws to protect the voting rights of military and overseas citizens, according to a report released today by the Pew Center on the States The 2012 election will be the first time these changes affect the process of voting for a president
Democracy from Afar: States Show Progress on Military and Overseas Voting, demonstrates the advancements states have made since the 2009 passage of the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act. The legislation resulted in some of the most significant protections for this population in more than 20 years. The MOVE Act legislation also included recommendations from Pew's 2009 report, No Time to Vote, which documented the obstacles military voters faced in obtaining and submitting a ballot in time to be counted.
Democracy from Afar finds that many states have changed their laws or administrative codes to allow for:
Enough time to vote.
Electronic transmission of unvoted ballots.
Eliminating requirements for notarization or witnesses.
Expanded use of Federal Write-in Absentee Ballots (FWABs).