Imagine all voters in Alaska, North Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming had not been allowed to vote in the 2004 presidential election.

Embarrassing? Scandalous? Unbelievable?

In fact, this is the electoral equivalent of what approximately 2 Million U.S. overseas civilian and military voters will experience in the 2008 Presidential election: a confusing, slow, and unreliable by-mail absentee balloting process that will effectively deny them a vote. Sadly, tens of thousands of Americans living outside the U.S. have simply become so discouraged with this antiquated process they’ve already given up trying to vote in elections which most stateside Americans take for granted (see US Election Assistance Commission Report below)

Addressing this democratic inequity is what the Operation BRAVO Foundation is all about.

Specifically, the Operation BRAVO Foundation believes that practical and reproducible electronic alternatives to the current by-mail paper ballot process can significantly improve overseas absentee voting and should be studied for eventual deployment. To kick off this effort the Foundation is sponsoring a remote electronic voting Pilot for the 2008 General Election.

This modest launch should lead to the development of more effective voting methodologies as more information and experience is gathered. The Operation BRAVO Foundation’s bottom-line goal is a voting success rate for overseas voters comparable to that of stateside absentee voters by the 2016 Presidential election.

This is an aggressive schedule but it can be met…with your Help!

01. US Election Assistance Commission
Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act
Survey Report Findings, September 2007
[read more]

05. Sweeping Internet Voting Experiment [read more]

04. Okaloosa Trail Blazes with Overseas Voting Program [read more]

03. Overseas Electronic Voting Pilot Project Announced [read more]

02. Giving Overseas Voters a Direct Connection [read more]

01. States Work to Make Absentee Voting Easier [read more]

The Operation BRAVO Foundation is incorporated as a nonprofit corporation in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Board of Directors

The Operation BRAVO Foundation is incorporated as a nonprofit corporation in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and, as such, may accept charitable contributions. The Foundation is in the process of applying to the IRS for a determination of being a tax exempt 501(c)(3) charitable organization so that donors may receive a tax deduction for their contributions. When received, the IRS determination will be retroactive to the date of incorporation.

Pat Hollarn, President
Ms. Hollarn was elected Supervisor of Elections for Okaloosa County FL in 1988 and went on to transform the office into a model of voter service and conduct of elections that was based on her theme of experience, ability, and integrity. She has made great use of technology, and as a former teacher, created a premier school district wide Kids Vote Too program. As the wife of a retired Air Force pilot, she can relate to the needs of UOCAVA voters on every level.

Chip Levengood, Treasurer
Mr. Levengood, a civilian overseas voter himself, makes his profession international sales management and investment banking. He also serves on Board of Directors of the Overseas Voter Foundation. He holds a BA from Yale University and an MBA from Columbia University. He is married with two sons and three grandchildren and splits his residence between Maryland and Spain.

Carol Paquette, Secretary
Carol Paquette has more than 40 years experience in information systems engineering including projects for the National Military Command System, the White House and the SEC. Since 1999 she has not only acted as program manager for the Voting Over the Internet (VOI) and Secure Electronic Registration and Voting Experiment (SERVE) federal online voting pilots but has provided extensive input on developing federal voting system standards.

Colonel Ed Hubbard (USAF Ret.)
Col. Hubbard culminated a twenty-eight-year, active duty, military career in August, 1990, of which over six and one half years was spent in captivity as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. Ed is an acknowledged motivational speaker, management consultant, artist, and author. His book, "Escape from the Box: The wonder of Human Potential" was published in January, 1994. He is married and lives in Okaloosa County, FL.

NOTE: The Foundation wishes to acknowledge the pro bono legal assistance of the District of Columbia law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.

The challenges associated with improving overseas absentee voting are technically and procedurally complex so many areas of expertise are needed in order to develop the affective solutions required.

The Operation BRAVO Foundation will seek to identify partners from diverse academic disciplines, private sector companies, non-profits, and non-governmental organizations who have expertise and/or technology solutions that can be applied to overseas voting projects.

We also invite state and local election officials who are interested in trying new solutions to contact us. We will begin identifying and evaluating potential projects for the 2010 election in early 2008. You can send an email indicating your interest and providing contact information to info@operationbravo.org, and someone will get in touch with you.