In May 2009, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (NY) released data indicating that more than 25% of the ballots requested by overseas military and civilian voters for the 2008 presidential election were either not received back or were not counted. These data come from a Congressional Research Service survey of election offices in seven states with high numbers of military personnel.

In January 2009, the Pew Center on the States published a report entitled "No Time to Vote." Their findings conclude that 25 states and the District of Columbia need to improve their absentee voting process for overseas military voters. Sixteen of these states and the District of Columbia do not send out absentee ballots early enough for overseas military voters to receive and return them before the deadline. Overseas military and civilian voters are both effectively denied the right to vote by a confusing, unreliable, and slow by-mail absentee voting process. Many have simply given up trying to vote because they have no assurance their ballot will be received or counted.

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. The Foundation sponsored a remote electronic voting Pilot for the 2008 General Election.

It is our expectation that this modest launch will 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!

The challenges associated with improving overseas absentee voting are technically and procedurally complex so many areas of expertise are needed to create effective solutions.

The Operation BRAVO Foundation seeks partners from diverse academic disciplines, private sector companies, nonprofits, and non-governmental organizations who have expertise and/or technology solutions that can be applied to overseas voting projects. We have proposed a project to extend the Okaloosa kiosk voting concept to combat zone locations for the 2010 election. We are also interested in assisting election officials who plan and implement their own projects. Send an email with contact information to info@operationbravo.org.

Board of Directors

The Operation BRAVO Foundation is incorporated as a nonprofit corporation in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and has been designated a tax exempt 501(c)(3) charitable organization by the IRS.

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. Pat retired in December 2008 after twenty years of service.

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 Vote 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
Ms. Carol Paquette has more than forty years experience in secure information systems engineering. She was program manager for the Voting Over the Internet (VOI) and Secure Electronic Registration and Voting Experiment (SERVE) online voting pilots. Carol was also the program manager for the Okaloosa Project.

Gary J. Smith
Mr. Smith has more than twenty years working with the international community in the area of industrial engineering. He is a former Chairman of the Board of Elections and Registrations in Forsyth County, Georgia, and has been in the field of elections for ten years. Gary has been an innovator in the use of technology to increase election administration efficiency and provide the highest level of satisfaction to his voting community. Gary holds an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois and has done graduate work at Ohio State University. He has received the Certified Election and Registration Administrator (CERA) certification from Auburn University's graduate program. He is a sought after speaker on the use of technology to achieve management efficiency in elections. Having lived and worked overseas as well as administering UOCAVA voting, he is very aware of the issues that these voters face.

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