New Act Mandates GAO Review of Military Voting Access, Targeting Better Ballot Counting by 2027

The Supporting Military Voters Act is straightforward: it tells the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to do a deep dive into how well the U.S. government is actually helping active-duty service members and their families vote when they are deployed overseas or stationed far from home.

This isn’t just a simple check-the-box audit. This bill requires the GAO to figure out what’s working and, more importantly, what’s breaking down in the process, with a final report due to Congress by September 30, 2027. Think of it as a comprehensive performance review for the entire military absentee voting system.

The Real Test: Are Ballots Getting Counted?

The core of this analysis focuses on the mechanics of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA). The GAO must look at the entire lifecycle of a military ballot. They’ll check the data on how ballots are sent out and the security and effectiveness of the methods used for service members to send them back. This is critical because for a military family, sometimes the only option is mailing a ballot from a remote base or using an electronic system that might be unreliable.

But the most important metric the GAO is tasked with examining is the ballot rejection rate. They have to find out what percentage of returned military ballots actually get counted and the common reasons why any are thrown out. For example, if a service member in Germany sends in their ballot correctly, but it’s delayed in transit and misses the deadline, the GAO needs to track that. This section (Sec. 2) aims to identify the systemic failures that prevent a service member’s vote from mattering, which is a big deal for those making sacrifices far from home.

Boosting Registration Assistance

Beyond just counting the ballots, the bill requires a separate study focused on improving voter registration assistance. The GAO must assess what specific actions the Secretaries of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines could take to boost access to registration help for their troops and families. They also have to estimate the costs and resources needed to meet these needs fully.

This means the GAO will be scrutinizing the effectiveness of the Federal Voting Assistance Program officers—the people on base tasked with helping troops register. If those officers are overworked, undertrained, or simply hard to find, the GAO will flag it. For a military spouse who moves every few years and constantly needs to re-register to vote, this study could lead to much clearer, more reliable support.

Why This Matters to Everyone

This bill doesn't change any voting laws itself; it changes the accountability structure. It’s essentially Congress asking for the data necessary to fix a known problem. By getting an objective assessment from the GAO—which is authorized to conduct its own investigations and interviews—Congress will have a clear, data-driven roadmap for future legislation to ensure that every vote cast by an active-duty member or their family is processed and counted correctly. It’s about making sure the system works for the people it’s designed to serve, and holding government programs accountable when they fall short.