November 6, 2012 at 8:15 am by FPP
‘Thousands of ballots’ unlikely to reach military voters in time
A group of Republican senators said Monday that thousands of voter ballots are unlikely to reach military service members until after Nov. 6.
One day ahead of the election, Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) sent a letter to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to express their concern over delays in ballots reaching military voters overseas. http://www.cornyn.senate.gov/public/...8-c5df1c4313a4
Mail redirection in the military can take between 14 to 50 days, meaning a ballot could reach the voter possibly more than a month after ballots have to be mailed back in order to be counted. The Military Postal Service Agency (MPSA) identified problems with the system after the 2010 election, but hasn’t implemented changes.Quote:
“We write to express concerns over another serious failure by the Department of Defense (DoD) to safeguard the voting rights of our overseas military service members, which we believe could result in the imminent disenfranchisement of thousands,” the letter stated.
“DoD’s failure to fix this longstanding problem means that the blank ballots of thousands of overseas service members, as well as some who have recently returned from overseas, could be currently trapped in an archaic and inefficient mail forwarding system,” the senators wrote. “These ballots are unlikely to reach these service members until after Election Day has passed."
The senators advised Panetta to create a centralized mail redirection system and modernize military mail delivery.
“We are perplexed as to why DoD did not do everything in its power to modernize the system for redirecting blank ballots in order to eliminate this roadblock for military service members, per the top 2010 recommendations from MPSA,” the letter stated. “As we know you agree, they deserve to have a voice in choosing their elected leaders. Our men and women in uniform should be able to participate in the very same democratic system of government that they defend, not be relegated to mere spectator status because their ballot never reached them.”
The senators asked that a new mail system be in place by the next election, in 2014.
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-actio...ilitary-voters
comments
Yeah, like, WHERE is the Department of Justice in defending our military personnel's "RIGHT" to vote????????? This was INTENDED, and FEW believe otherwise!
..
Attorney General Eric Holder is Obama's henchman. They don't want many military votes counted, because they will be overwhelmingly Republican. Holder doesn't want justice. He wants to win at all costs.
Anybody who wasn't blind and deaf could have known this was coming many weeks ago.
...
All Americans wanting to vote should be able too. Plenty of time should be given for our military troops. There is no excuse, in any delays. Times like today, with the economy. People need to vote
http://www.dailyjobcuts.com
...
New Jersey is going to have emergency vote by email. Military should be able to do the same. Only thing stopping them is the Obama administration.
..
This situation, this UNintended consequence of our "Progressive" BETTERS, may not be the WORST, the MOST egregious, the MOST heinous abuse of Government power.
But it is DAMN close.
To say to a man or woman who VOLUNTEERED to SACRIFICE personal Liberty and Safety to FIGHT for OUR RIGHTS, that YOU are DISENFRANCHISED?
Now THAT'S "Progressive"...