Fourth Annual UOCAVA Summit 2010 on Overseas and Military Voting
Hosted by Overseas Vote Foundation in Munich

Dates: Thurs. March 18 – Fri. March 19, 2010
Time: 9:00 a.m – 6:00 p.m.
Location: Kempinski Vier Jahreszeiten
Maximillianstr. 17, 80539 Munich, Germany
RSVP: info@overseasvotefoundation.org

MUNICH – The recently enacted Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act – a federal law intended to strengthen the voting rights of overseas and military voters – has prompted a flurry of reaction as state election officials hurry to implement its provisions for election year 2010.

The Pew Center on the States reports that, as of today, at least 25 states have introduced more than 80 pieces of legislation designed to implement the MOVE Act. The new law requires the states, among several other new regulations, to provide electronic transmission of voter registration and ballot requests; some of this legislation – including in West Virginia and Washington – goes beyond this requirement to propose that voters cast their ballots electronically as well.

-Why do some people see Internet Voting as a sensible improvement to democratic practices while others see it as opening the floodgates to a irresponsible use of technology?
-What exactly is the role of online technology in our electoral process?
-Do we really have to draw a line?
-Is this a positive step towards modernizing our electoral process?
-If these kinds of programs work well as pilots, how long will it be before all voters want to cast their ballots via Internet?

These are the timely and highly controversial questions that will be debated by 11 technology and electoral integrity experts at this year’s Overseas and Military Voting (UOCAVA) Summit 2010.

Summit 2010 will host presentations from 60 experts, administrators and thought leaders in both the electoral and the overseas communities, including: Secretaries of State, the heads of the Federal Voting Assistance Program and the US Election Assistance Commission, the Chief Voting Action Officer of the U.S. Department of State, representatives of every branch of the military, technologists, innovators, election integrity activists, leading elections researchers from major US and international universities, non-profit election rights advocacy groups, leaders of the American community overseas, and many more.(See complete list below)

Participants and Summit attendees will exchange ideas on this question of Internet voting and the full range of implications of the MOVE Act, the most important piece of election reform legislation for the overseas community since the 1989 passage of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizen Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), the law that guaranteed the right to vote to Americans living overseas.

This year’s two-day Summit 2010 on overseas and military voting will take place in Munich starting with an opening reception on Wednesday, March 17 at 6:00 p.m., with guest speaker Munich Consul General Conrad Tribble. The Gala Dinner will offer participants an opportunity to unveil MOVE Act- and UOCAVA-related announcements.

The reception will be followed by two full days of conference events, Thursday and Friday, March 18-19, including presentations, panels and the debate on Friday morning introduced by Professor Andrew Appel of Princeton University, moderated by Gregory Miller, Chief Development Officer at the Open Source Digital Voting Foundation, and concluded by Debra Bowen, Secretary of State of California. Two teams of expert scientists and activists from both the U.S. and Europe are preparing to tackle this highly controversial topic.

Press will have early access to the Debate team on Thursday, March 18.

Full Conference Details, Agenda, Conference Plan, Logistics

Summit 2010 Speaker List:

Featured Debate: Internet Voting – Pros and Cons

Andrew Appel, Professor, Princeton University
Debra Bowen, Secretary of State, California
Christian Bull, Senior Advisor, The Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, Norway
Chantal Enguehard, Researcher and Teacher, Laboratoire d’Informatique de Nantes Atlantique
Thad Hall, Associate Professor of Political Science and Research Fellow, University of Utah, USA
Harri Hursti, Author: Hacking Democracy, invited
Constanze Kurz, Engineer, Dipl. Inf., Humboldt University, Germany
Tarvi Martens, Development Director at SK, Demographic Info, Computer & Network Security, Estonia
Pamela Smith, President, Verified Voting
Alexander Trechsel, Professor of Political Science and Swiss Chair in Federalism and Democracy at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence, Italy

Featured Speakers

Greg Casey, President, BIPAC
Chip Levengood, Chair, Overseas Vote Foundation
Jack Markey, Chief Voting Action Officer, U.S. Department of State
Daniel Murphy, International Federation of Election Systems
Matthew Segal, Executive Director, Student Association for Voter Empowerment
Munich Consul General Conrad Tribble
Susan Dzieduszycka-Suinat, President and CEO, Overseas Vote Foundation

Implications of the MOVE Act

Adam Ambrogi, Senate Rules Committee
Roland Crim, Director, American Citizens Abroad
Donetta Davidson, Chair, US Election Assistance Commission
Matt Dunlap, Secretary of State, Maine
John Godley, Senior Program Analyst, Federal Voting Assistance Program
Chip Levengood, on behalf of the Uniform Law Commission

Successful Outreach to the Elusive Overseas Voter

Debra Cleaver, Founder, Long Distance Voter
Matthew Segal, Executive Director, Student Association for Voter Empowerment
Sam Oliker-Friedland, Deputy Director, Data and Technology, New Organizing Institute
Tia Viering, Head of Communications, New 7 Wonders
Clair Whitmer, Outreach Director, Overseas Vote Foundation
J. Scott Wiedmann, Deputy Director, Federal Voting Assistance Program

2010 UOCAVA Technology Futures

Doug Chapin, Director, Election Initiatives, The Pew Center of the States
Pat Hollarn, Operation BRAVO Foundation
Lars Herrman, Red Hat
Daemmon Hughes, Technical Development Director, Bear Code
Manuel Kripp, Competence Center for Electronic Voting, Germany
Tarvi Martens, Development Director at SK, Demographic Info, Computer & Network Security, Estonia
Gregory Miller, Chief Development Officer, Open Source Digital Voting Foundation

Technology Pilots - Pros and Cons - Blessing or Curse

Paul Docker, Head of Electoral Strategy, Ministry of Justice, United Kingdom
Carol Paquette, Director, Operation BRAVO Foundation
John Sebes, Chief Technology Officer, Open Source Digital Voting Foundation
Paul Stenbjorn, President, Election Information Services

Future of UOCAVA Research

Mike Hanmer, University of Maryland
Paul Gronke, Consultant and Professor, Reed College
Sarah Starkweather, Singapore University, Geography
Judith Murray, Americans Abroad Research Project, University of Newcastle

Voting at the Front Line: Focus on the Military Voter

Kory Benz, Service Voting Assistance Officer, Coast Guard
Gilbert Harrison, Service Voting Assistance Officer, Air Force
Alton C. Perry, Service Voting Assistance Officer, Army
Susan B. Otto, Service Voting Assistance Officer, Navy
J. Brian Owens, Service Voting Assistance Officer, Air Force
Kenneth Warford, Service Voting Assistance Officer, Marines
Alec Yasinsac, Professor and Dean, School of Computer and Information Sciences, University of South Alabama

State Plenary UOCAVA Initiatives: Making a Difference

Debra Bowen, Secretary of State, California
Matt Dunlap, Secretary of State, Maine
Jennifer Brunner, Secretary of State, Ohio
Pedro Cortes, Secretary of State, Pennsylvania
Natalie Tennant, Secretary of State, West Virginia, invited

The Effectiveness of Policy Indexes

Gary Smith, Operation BRAVO Foundation
Jessica Richman, Researcher, Oxford Internet Institute
Robert Carey, Director, Federal Voting Assistance Program
Tom Intorcio, National Association of State Legislators, invited
Claire Smith, Director of Research, Overseas Vote Foundation

Surveying Overseas and Military Voters

Michael McDonald, Professor, George Mason University
Tim Elig, Director, Human Resources Strategic Assessment Program, Defense Data Manpower Center
Toby Moore, Project Director, Research Triangle Institute
Judith Murray, Americans Abroad Research Project, University of Newcastle



To schedule interviews with speakers: Contact Susan Dzieduszycka-Suinat at susan@overseasvotefoundation.org ; +49 89 649 391 33 or +1 202 470 2480.

Press is invited to register in advance for complementary attendance at the full conference. Contact summit@overseasvotefoundation.org for registration details.