Paul Lloyd is the chairman of the New Hampshire State Veterans Advisory Committee. He served in the United States Navy from 1985 – 1998. He lives in Concord and is a lifelong New Hampshire resident.

It isn’t always easy for service members to cast a ballot. Whether at sea, as I often was over my thirteen years in the U.S. Navy, or permanently stationed halfway around the world, military members and their families don’t have the luxury of a quick walk or drive to their nearest polling place.

For most of us, the only option to vote was to vote by mail. But to receive, let alone mail back, a ballot while underway at sea is no easy task. Small delays could mean we miss an important deadline. Small mistakes could mean our ballot gets lost somewhere along the way. For those of us defending our democracy abroad, those challenges add up quickly. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Electronic ballot return would allow New Hampshire to cut out the single greatest question mark service members and their families face when voting while deployed or stationed overseas. Instead of hoping your ballot will arrive safely at your hometown clerk’s office, the process allows you to transmit your vote instantly, bringing peace of mind to those in uniform and those who run our elections here at home.

Allowing our military service members stationed overseas to electronically return their ballot is a critical step to protect the votes of those serving our country abroad. In the 21st century, there’s no reason any soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine should be left to wonder whether their vote will make it back to New Hampshire by 5 p.m. on Election Day, or worry that if it doesn’t, their vote will be thrown out.

That concern is real. The Department of Defense estimates mail between the U.S. and the Middle East could take nearly two weeks, and that wait can be even longer for service members at sea, and that’s without factoring in the potential for delays. There’s also the fact that a lot can change in the run-up to Election Day. Look no further than this year’s Republican presidential primary, where some overseas service members voted for candidates who dropped out after completed ballots were already in the mail. Electronic ballot return would make those transit times, and that potential for a wasted vote, a thing of the past.

That’s why 31 states currently offer military voters the opportunity to return their ballot electronically. That track record of security and success in states like Maine, North Carolina, Missouri, and Colorado proves this process can work, and work well, right here in New Hampshire.

As the chairman of the New Hampshire State Veterans Advisory Commission, I proudly support House Bill 1133, which would establish electronic ballot return as an option for our state’s service members and their families stationed overseas. HB 1133, sponsored by Rep. Ross Berry (R-Manchester), is the right bipartisan bill to modernize and strengthen our New Hampshire elections — and I strongly urge our elected leaders in the House and Senate to pass it in this year’s legislative session.

As a patriot who once cast my ballot from halfway across the world, I know what it means not just to defend our democracy, but to be a part of it myself. While I may not have had the opportunity to electronically return my ballot 25 years ago, time and technology give us the chance to do more for our men and women in uniform today.

Electronic ballot return gives New Hampshire the opportunity to serve those who serve us. It’s an opportunity we shouldn’t miss.