This issue arose during the 2008 election when the U.S. Department of Justice sued Virginia, contending that the state mailed its overseas ballots too late for service members to receive and return them in time to be counted.

The likelihood of a ballot being counted in time depends on which state a soldier is from, and whether a state’s process relies more on the U.S. Postal Service or electronic means, such as fax or e-mail. These differences were highlighted in a report released Jan. 6 that concluded that half the states could improve their systems to make sure overseas military can vote.
“We’re failing in our responsibility to ensure access to military voters living overseas. While these voters are serving America, America is not serving them,” said David Becker, who worked on the report for Make Voting Work, a project of the Pew Center of the States. Stateline.org is also a PCS project.
The Pew report found that 16 states and the District of Columbia do not give overseas military personnel enough time to vote, and another three states cut it so close that their ballots are also at risk. In Alabama, which needs the longest time among states to send and receive ballots, it takes 88 days to cast an overseas military vote. That state requires three mailings: first, from a soldier requesting a ballot, again when the state sends it, and once more to send in the ballot.