About Us

About the Overseas Voting Initiative

The Overseas Voting Initiative (OVI) is a collaboration between The Council of State Governments (CSG) and the U.S. Department of Defense Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) to educate state policymakers, election officials, and other election community stakeholders about the unique voting challenges faced by military and other U.S. citizens overseas, and methods for improving the voting process for these individuals. The work of OVI consists of policy research and the development of a data standard for Section B of the Election Administration and Voting Survey (EAVS).

Project Timeline

2013 – 2018

OVI was originally formed in 2013, with the goal of improving the return rate of rate of overseas absentee ballots from service members and U.S. citizens abroad. OVI made significant progress in this effort, publishing several reports that outlined strategies and recommendations for improving the UOCAVA voting process. During this phase of the project, OVI explored topics such as improving communication and engagement with overseas voters, streamlining voter registration processes, simplifying ballot duplication processes and developing a data standard for Section B of the EAVS.

2018 – 2023

In 2018, OVI entered into a second cooperative agreement with FVAP to explore additional research priorities aimed at improving voter success and the implementation of the EAVS Section B Data Standard. During this phase of the project, OVI explored topics such as the sustainability of UOCAVA ballot delivery and return solutions, access to and usage of fax by UOCAVA voters and state processes for collecting data about UOCAVA voters. The OVI working group also further examined electronic ballot delivery solutions for UOCAVA voters in response to global mail disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

2023 – 2028

OVI began its third cooperative agreement with FVAP in 2023 to explore research priorities aimed at improving election official communication with and service delivery to UOCAVA voters. As part of this cooperative agreement, OVI will also continue efforts to implement the EAVS Section B Data Standard in state and local jurisdictions as well as develop resources and tools to facilitate the reporting of EAVS data in alignment with the standard. The OVI team will also conduct process modeling to support states in developing data collection practices and standards that facilitate the analysis of policy initiatives that support UOCAVA voters. The OVI working group will convene twice annually to inform these efforts.

The Overseas Voting Initiative Working Group

The Overseas Voting Initiative administers a national working group of state and local election officials who are charged with identifying pressing issues faced by UOCAVA voters and avenues for further research. The working group meets twice annually to discuss these issues and collaborate with community and federal stakeholders regarding the development of policy and administrative best practices for serving UOCAVA voters. Members of the national working group review and approve all recommendations, considerations and best practices developed by OVI. The working group is currently led by two co-chairs – New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver and Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate. The names of additional working group members are provided in the interactive map below.

Our Team

Casandra Hockenberry

Program Manager

Casandra Hockenberry is a program manager at The Council of State Governments where she works at the intersection of elections, technology and administrative data. As a part of that work she runs the Overseas Voting Initiative, dedicated to ensuring those representing our democracy abroad have a say in their democracy at home. She also leads the Election Technology Initiative a home for open-source technology solutions in elections. Prior to joining The Council of State Governments, she worked for the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy as a public defender representing indigent clients charged with felonies and misdemeanors. Casandra earned her degree in Political Science from Clarion University and her Juris Doctor from Case Western University. In her community, Casandra serves on the Lexington Public Library Board of Trustees and on the Governance Board of CivicLex. 

chockenberry@csg.org

Morgan Thomas

Policy Analyst

Morgan Thomas is a Policy Analyst for The Council of State Governments Overseas Voting Initiative. Morgan tracks state and federal legislation impacting UOCAVA voters, supports elections-focused research requests and manages state inquiries related to military and veterans’ affairs policy. Additionally, Morgan provides administrative support for the Election Technology Initiative and the Apprenticeship Data Alignment and Performance Technical Assistance Center. Morgan is a proud member of the armed forces, serving as a non-commissioned officer in the Kentucky Air National Guard since 2015. He serves as a Material Handler providing logistics support for the 123rd Airlift Wing Logistics Readiness Squadron. With both a professional and personal dedication to public service, Morgan is passionate about eliminating barriers to help U.S. citizens, including his fellow service members and their families, exercise their right to vote. Morgan earned his B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Spanish from the University of Kentucky and his M.A. in Diplomacy and International Commerce from the University of Kentucky Patterson School of Diplomacy. 

mthomas@csg.org

Jared Marcotte

Senior Technology Advisor

Jared Marcotte oversees CSG’s Overseas Voting Initiative work on data standardization, which aims to improve the voting experience for military and overseas voters by analyzing anonymized transactions across all 50 states and, with state and local election officials, developing recommendations for improvement. Prior to his work with CSG, he was Manager and Officer of Elections Technology at The Pew Charitable Trusts where he worked across all projects in the election initiatives portfolio. One of his primary roles at Pew was managing the Voting Information Project, a collaboration with state and local officials, Google, and Pew to create an open, standardized repository of election-related information for all 50 states and DC. In addition to many years of programming experience in various languages, Jared is also an accomplished interface and interaction designer, having worked on various news and commerce sites and online voting information tools. An experienced speaker, Jared has spoken at SXSW, NIST symposiums, and many election administrator conferences. Jared sits on the Technical Advisory Committee for the Voting Solutions for All People, or VSAP, project, an initiative by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk to assess their existing voting system and develop a new solution that meets the needs of Los Angeles County’s voters. Jared has previously worked at Six Apart and IBM, and is a graduate of the University of Vermont. 

jared@turnout.rocks 

Grace Gordon

Research Lead and Project Manager

Grace Gordon is Research Lead and Project Manager with The Turnout and facilitates the OVI policy subgroup. Previously, she served as the Senior Policy Analyst at the Bipartisan Policy Center’s (BPC) Elections Project in Washington, D.C where she published several reports including “The Federal Role in U.S. Elections Visualized” and “Ballot Pre-Processing Policies Explained.” Prior to her time at BPC, Gordon served as Project Management Consultant at the Elections & Voting Information Center at Reed College and Program Management Consultant at the California Voter Foundation. Gordon earned her Master of Development Practice from the University of California, Berkeley. She wrote her capstone thesis, “Documenting and Addressing Harassment of Election Officials,” on the threats and harassment experienced by state and local election officials resulting from the 2020 election. Prior to graduate school, Gordon worked in education and career development. She received her B.A. in English and B.A. in Mathematics from the University of California, Davis. 

grace@turnout.rocks 

James Houghton, PhD

Analyst

James is a Long Island, New York native and alumnus of the University of Rhode Island (URI). At URI, James completed his bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD in Industrial and Systems Engineering.  His PhD dissertation work established a foundational body of knowledge about vote centers by characterizing voter turnout behavioral patterns that inherently affect resource allocation decisions. While pursuing his advanced degrees, James worked as a Graduate Research Assistant for Dr. Gretchen Macht at the Engineering for Democracy Institute (formerly URI VOTES). He was crucial in developing cutting-edge statistical and simulation models to assist local election administrators with multi-site (city, county, and state-wide) resource allocation and capacity planning that impacted approximately 28.6 million voters across nine states. In his personal time, James enjoys reading, traveling, and training for triathlons. 

james@turnout.rocks