WASHINGTON – House Administration Committee Chairman Dan Lungren, R-Calif., issued the following statement urging strong adherence to laws aimed at protecting overseas military voters after receiving assurances from the Departments of Justice and Defense that they remain committed to preventing the disenfranchisement of military and overseas voters.

“I commend the actions by the highest levels of government to ensure the integrity of military and overseas voting is protected and ballot access is available for all those casting their vote this November,” stated Chairman Lungren. “While errors have occurred and many voting issues have been resolved, with just days before Election Day now is the time to maintain strong enforcement of our laws to prevent any future possibilities of disenfranchisement of military and overseas voters.”

After multiple reports of military voting irregularities, Chairman Lungren sent letters to the Departments of Justice and Defense demanding information about what the departments are doing to ensure military and overseas voters are not disenfranchised.

On October 19, 2012, a transport plane crashed near Shindad Air Base in Afghanistan. According to press reports, the crash resulted in the destruction of 4,700 pounds of mail, including the possibility of absentee ballots being delivered to troops overseas. The Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) has since identified the zip code where the ballots came from and have contacted election officials to advise that they re-send any ballots previously sent to that zip code to maximize the time for military and overseas voters to replace them.

Chairman Lungren has vowed to continue the Committee’s rigorous oversight and protect voters’ rights, as Election Day approaches.

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Congressman Dan Lungren serves as the Chairman of the House Administration Committee in addition to serving on the Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees.