Make Virginia Absentee Ballots Returnable Online

Virginia House Bill 493 (HB493) requires the Virginia Department of Elections to make available to all localities a tool to allow a voter with a visual impairment or print disability or a covered voter to receive, mark, and return their absentee ballot electronically through the internet. The bill makes the tool available through the internet in lieu of other currently available assistive technologies.

Dear [Lawmaker],

I am writing to you to urge you to pass HB493 on electronic absentee ballot return.  For several years now, Virginia residents who have requested to vote via Absentee Ballot have had the option to receive and fill in their ballots over the internet. This system is accessible, convenient, and fairly easy to use. However, current law forces voters to print their completed ballot, insert the ballot into the envelope provided, and mail or take the ballot to a polling place to have their vote counted. 
This return system makes it very difficult for people who are print disabled to vote privately and independently for several reasons. Many people no longer have printers to print their ballot and other necessary documentation. Another barrier is that the envelope provided for return of absentee ballots requires the voter to provide identifying information in an area under a flap.  A voter who is blind or has low vision would find it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to provide the required information independently.  The alternative to trying to fill out the envelope is completing an affidavit provided by the locality's Board of Elections to be filled out on the computer, printed, and inserted in the envelope with the ballot.  
Ballots may be rejected and the envelope unopened because the identifying information is not on the outside of the envelope, or the Board of Elections staff has sent the affidavit as a locked .PDF file which cannot be completed independently. Another shortcoming of the current system is that not all localities have the funding to provide a completely accessible mechanism at all polling places for print disabled citizens to complete their ballot privately and independently.
Vendors who provide electronic ballot services also provide safe, accessible, and convenient electronic return services. This is evidenced by the fact that 33 states already receive ballots electronically from military and overseas citizens. 13 of those states (including West Virginia and North Carolina) receive ballots electronically from absentee voters including those who have print disabilities along with the military and overseas citizens. And, despite several years of experience offering this system of electronic return, there have been no substantiated complaints of security breaches or fraud.
Two major reasons people request absentee ballots are because they cannot successfully vote at their local polling place or because they do not have necessary transportation to get to their voting place, particularly for those in small towns and rural areas where transportation options are limited. We suggest that including electronic ballot return, along with the electronic distribution and completion of ballots, if publicized widely, would encourage more citizens to vote in future elections. We, therefore, urge you to support the passage of HB493.

Sincerely,
______

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