If the Republicans allow this one to slip by then they have only themselves to blame when the next election the military still does not get to vote because of the actions of the local election boards and the states.
The Scandal of Military Voter Disenfranchisement
We can't depend on the Justice Department to see to it that the states comply with the law regarding absentee ballots being shipped in a timely manner to military personnel overseas.
November 4, 2010 - by Captain Samuel F. Wright, JAGC, USN (Ret.)
Share |
In a speech to the House of Commons on August 20, 1940, Prime Minister Winston Churchill said:
The gratitude of every home in our island, in our empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge of mortal danger, are turning the tide of world war by their prowess and their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.
These eloquent words about the Royal Air Force in the Battle of Britain could apply equally to the men and women of the United States Armed Forces today. The entire U.S. military establishment, including the National Guard and Reserve, amounts to less than three-fourths of 1 percent of the U.S. population. It is these few who, by their prowess and their devotion, have protected all Americans from a repeat of the horrors of September 11, 2001.
What do these few ask of our country in exchange for their valiant service? They have every right to ask, and indeed to demand, that they be given the opportunity to cast ballots in elections that get counted. In a 1952 letter to Congress, President Harry S. Truman wrote:
About 2,500,000 men and women in the Armed Forces are of voting age at the present time. Many of those in uniform are serving overseas, or in parts of the country distant from their homes. They are unable to return to their States either to register or to vote. Yet these men and women, who are serving their country and in many cases risking their lives, deserve above all others to exercise the right to vote in this election year. At a time when these young people are defending our country and its free institutions, the least we at home can do is to make sure that they are able to enjoy the rights they are being asked to fight to preserve.
President Truman’s letter is included in a 1952 report of the Subcommittee on Elections, Committee on House Administration, U.S. House of Representatives, concerning voting rights for military personnel fighting the Korean War. The Honorable C.G. Hall, secretary of state of Arkansas and president of the National Association of Secretaries of State, testified that military personnel in Korea and elsewhere were likely to be disenfranchised because late primaries, ballot access lawsuits, and other problems made it impossible for local election officials (LEOs) to print and mail absentee ballots until just a few days before Election Day.
In his 1952 letter, President Truman called upon the states to fix this problem, and he called upon Congress to enact temporary federal legislation for the 1952 presidential election. He wrote,
Any such legislation by Congress should be temporary, since it should be possible to make all the necessary changes in State laws before the congressional elections of 1954.
Well, it did not work out that way. The Korean War ground to an inconclusive halt in 1952, the issue dropped off our national radar screen, and the states did not fix the problem. Finally, in 2009, Congress enacted the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE Act). This new law requires every state to mail out absentee ballots to military personnel and family members by the 45th day before Election Day (e.g., September 18, 2010). Several sstates with late primaries applied for and received waivers for 2010, and agreed to extend the deadline for the return of ballots mailed in from overseas.
In Illinois, the problem was not a late primary. Indeed, Illinois held its 2010 primary on February 2, 2010. But 35 of 110 Illinois counties seriously missed the September 18 deadline. One of the late counties was St. Clair County, home to 261,000 people and to Scott Air Force Base.
The U.S. Department of Justice is responsible for enforcing the MOVE Act, but it seems not to take its responsibilities seriously — perhaps because military personnel vote overwhelmingly Republican when they do have the opportunity to vote.
DoJ entered into a consent decree with Illinois that does not solve the problem. In those counties that were seriously late in sending out ballots, the consent decree extends by only one day (from November 1 to November 2) the deadline for the postmark of the marked ballot coming back to the local election official. If Sergeant Smith in Afghanistan receives his ballot on November 3, he cannot cast a ballot that will get counted.
Congress should amend the MOVE Act to clarify that individual military voters have a private right of action to enforce the 45-day rule. We cannot depend upon DOJ to enforce this law in good faith. DOJ, under present management, will paper over MOVE Act violations for the same reason that it condoned voter intimidation by the New Black Panther Party in Philadelphia in 2008.
Congress should also clarify that military personnel and family members overseas have the right to vote in state and local elections as well as federal elections, and that any violation of the 45-day rule must be remedied by a court order extending both the deadline for the postmark of the marked ballot and the deadline for its receipt.
It is a national scandal that we as a nation are still conducting absentee voting in much the same way that it was conducted during the Korean War — by shipping pieces of paper across oceans and continents by snail mail. In our Armed Forces, classified information is transmitted and received every day by secure electronic means. In commerce, billions of dollars change hands electronically every business day. If electronic means are secure enough for our nation’s most important secrets and for huge sums of money, why is it not possible, in 2010, for deployed service members to vote by a secure means that will guarantee that their ballots are counted?
Captain Wright retired after a career as a judge advocate in the Navy and Navy Reserve. He has been working the military voting issue since 1976.
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2. Stay on topic.
3. Disagree, but avoid ad hominem attacks.
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15 Comments, 14 Threads
1. Ken
How about an amendment to the MOVE Act, so that military members who don’t get their absentee ballots on time are allowed to skip paying state and local income taxes for the year?
November 4, 2010 - 5:17 pm Link to this Comment | Reply
canuck
Good idea but two flaws. Some states have no income taxes and the period should extend through the term of whomever is on the ballot. Six years for Senate and four for President or Governor. Include federal taxes and this will be an incentive to get votes to them.
November 5, 2010 - 3:07 am Link to this Comment | Reply
2. justasimplepatriot
Sign on Marine Barracks outside of Baghdad:
“America is not at war, We are at war. America is at the Mall.”
How do you think this vote travesty impacts our troops.
Raise Hell, America.
November 4, 2010 - 6:07 pm Link to this Comment | Reply
3. Anonymous
I do not see why the military just doesn’t conduct it’s own election right where they are stationed and then add the vote to the state totals.
It is a national disgrace that illegal aliens have their vote more protected than our military members.
November 4, 2010 - 6:08 pm Link to this Comment | Reply
4. Jon Nedved
On Tuesday evening, as I was preparing to vote, I noted with pride that my daughter (registered in the same precinct) had already voted. Immediately above my name on the list of registered voters was the name of my youngest son, who is a Marine currently deployed on a Navy ship. I was saddened to see that he had not voted, and then realized that it was nearly impossible to get/receive mail from him, which is understandable given his location. Why can’t we, as a country, make it easy for those who put their lives on the line defending us to cast a ballot? Why is it easier to come here from a foreign country and obtain social services than it is for our troops to vote? Shame on us!
November 4, 2010 - 6:37 pm Link to this Comment | Reply
5. Steve S
I suspect that the Justice Dept will have plenty of explaining to do with the new Congress. If any of the issues see the light of day is the problem.
November 4, 2010 - 7:34 pm Link to this Comment | Reply
6. Andy Gump (formerly Oscar the Grump)
The disenfranchisement of our military personnel smacks of Stalinist era leadership. Its against the law right now to ask an individual for identification or proof of citizenship. Where as, our military is intentionally left out on purpose. Now that we have a Republican Congress, its first job should be to guarantee the military the right to vote. It should also call for the use of identification at each voting precinct and/or proof of citizenship. Without such guarantees we are only setting ourselves up to have the 2012 election hijacked. If we press the point via Congress and the Bill is rejected by the Senate or the President, it will prove our point.
November 4, 2010 - 9:00 pm Link to this Comment | Reply
7. ITYS
This is an absolute outrage and has been reported in the media for at least 3weeks, yet no resolution. Its disgusting, the calculated incompetence and disenfranchisement was purposeful b/c they know the military overwhelmingly goes R. No ballots to those who put their lives on the line for this country, but votes were taken personally to the convicts in IL. Since when do the convicts get to vote????? Did nay reporter ever ask Obama about this failure???? He’s supposed to be the commander-in-chief and he would actually have garnered some respect had he acted to rectify this problem.
November 4, 2010 - 9:43 pm Link to this Comment | Reply
8. Anonymous
Left/liberals love illegal aliens and piss on our military.
November 5, 2010 - 12:13 am Link to this Comment | Reply
9. Mark Matis
And yet again, “Law Enforcement” is the Great Enabler for this. Be sure to thank them appropriately for the OUTSTANDING job they have done.
November 5, 2010 - 4:48 am Link to this Comment | Reply
10. Eric Jablow
Perhaps disenfranchised soldiers could bring a lawsuit demanding that Illinois and other states forfeit some of their representation in Congress, according to section 2 of the 14th Amendment:
“Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age,* and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.”
November 5, 2010 - 5:08 am Link to this Comment | Reply
11. Claudia
We certainly can complain about the DOJ not doing their job, but we conservatives didn’t do much to make sure this outrage from the 2000 election was remedied and we did have the majority to accomplish it. That said, it does not fall on deaf ears that the Dems seems to be those most prone to disenfranchise the public with scores of groups who’s aim is to commit voter fraud in every way possible, Acorn is a great example. What is it about liberals that honor seems to be something they don’t recognize or understand?
November 5, 2010 - 5:46 am Link to this Comment | Reply
12. kjatexas
Why is it that no one seems to ever go to jail for the kind of voter fraud we see on a regular basis.
November 5, 2010 - 8:01 am Link to this Comment | Reply
13. Bill Lawrence
What must not be forgotten is that this year’s disenfranchisement of the military was in VIOLATION of the law. We need criminal penalties for officials fail to get military ballots out as per the deadline.
November 5, 2010 - 8:25 am Link to this Comment | Reply
14. Joseph Rush Wills, II
The disenfranchisement of military personnel is only part of a larger problem of election fraud. Unfortunately, Americans accept voter fraud and in many cases wink at it. But election fraud is the theft of democracy and attacks the very core of Representative government and the Consent of the Governed in our Declaration of Independence.
Those failing to mail ballots to our brave men and women on the front lines well knew how our defenders would vote; that’s why they were cheated.
Commenter Bill Lawrence suggested criminal penalties for officials who fail to get military ballots out on time; I agree, but make those penalties, and all penalties for voter fraud severe. Not a few months in a minimum security “white collar” penitentury, knowing they’ll be “taken care of” when they gey out, but long years at hard labor at some remote prison camp.
The new Congress needs to address this corruption…and take steps to ensure that those who attempt to “rig” elections in any way get the punishment they deserve.
God Bless our military!
November 5, 2010 - 9:45 am Link to this Comment | Reply
The Scandal of Military Voter Disenfranchisement
We can't depend on the Justice Department to see to it that the states comply with the law regarding absentee ballots being shipped in a timely manner to military personnel overseas.
November 4, 2010 - by Captain Samuel F. Wright, JAGC, USN (Ret.)
Share |
In a speech to the House of Commons on August 20, 1940, Prime Minister Winston Churchill said:
The gratitude of every home in our island, in our empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge of mortal danger, are turning the tide of world war by their prowess and their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.
These eloquent words about the Royal Air Force in the Battle of Britain could apply equally to the men and women of the United States Armed Forces today. The entire U.S. military establishment, including the National Guard and Reserve, amounts to less than three-fourths of 1 percent of the U.S. population. It is these few who, by their prowess and their devotion, have protected all Americans from a repeat of the horrors of September 11, 2001.
What do these few ask of our country in exchange for their valiant service? They have every right to ask, and indeed to demand, that they be given the opportunity to cast ballots in elections that get counted. In a 1952 letter to Congress, President Harry S. Truman wrote:
About 2,500,000 men and women in the Armed Forces are of voting age at the present time. Many of those in uniform are serving overseas, or in parts of the country distant from their homes. They are unable to return to their States either to register or to vote. Yet these men and women, who are serving their country and in many cases risking their lives, deserve above all others to exercise the right to vote in this election year. At a time when these young people are defending our country and its free institutions, the least we at home can do is to make sure that they are able to enjoy the rights they are being asked to fight to preserve.
President Truman’s letter is included in a 1952 report of the Subcommittee on Elections, Committee on House Administration, U.S. House of Representatives, concerning voting rights for military personnel fighting the Korean War. The Honorable C.G. Hall, secretary of state of Arkansas and president of the National Association of Secretaries of State, testified that military personnel in Korea and elsewhere were likely to be disenfranchised because late primaries, ballot access lawsuits, and other problems made it impossible for local election officials (LEOs) to print and mail absentee ballots until just a few days before Election Day.
In his 1952 letter, President Truman called upon the states to fix this problem, and he called upon Congress to enact temporary federal legislation for the 1952 presidential election. He wrote,
Any such legislation by Congress should be temporary, since it should be possible to make all the necessary changes in State laws before the congressional elections of 1954.
Well, it did not work out that way. The Korean War ground to an inconclusive halt in 1952, the issue dropped off our national radar screen, and the states did not fix the problem. Finally, in 2009, Congress enacted the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE Act). This new law requires every state to mail out absentee ballots to military personnel and family members by the 45th day before Election Day (e.g., September 18, 2010). Several sstates with late primaries applied for and received waivers for 2010, and agreed to extend the deadline for the return of ballots mailed in from overseas.
In Illinois, the problem was not a late primary. Indeed, Illinois held its 2010 primary on February 2, 2010. But 35 of 110 Illinois counties seriously missed the September 18 deadline. One of the late counties was St. Clair County, home to 261,000 people and to Scott Air Force Base.
The U.S. Department of Justice is responsible for enforcing the MOVE Act, but it seems not to take its responsibilities seriously — perhaps because military personnel vote overwhelmingly Republican when they do have the opportunity to vote.
DoJ entered into a consent decree with Illinois that does not solve the problem. In those counties that were seriously late in sending out ballots, the consent decree extends by only one day (from November 1 to November 2) the deadline for the postmark of the marked ballot coming back to the local election official. If Sergeant Smith in Afghanistan receives his ballot on November 3, he cannot cast a ballot that will get counted.
Congress should amend the MOVE Act to clarify that individual military voters have a private right of action to enforce the 45-day rule. We cannot depend upon DOJ to enforce this law in good faith. DOJ, under present management, will paper over MOVE Act violations for the same reason that it condoned voter intimidation by the New Black Panther Party in Philadelphia in 2008.
Congress should also clarify that military personnel and family members overseas have the right to vote in state and local elections as well as federal elections, and that any violation of the 45-day rule must be remedied by a court order extending both the deadline for the postmark of the marked ballot and the deadline for its receipt.
It is a national scandal that we as a nation are still conducting absentee voting in much the same way that it was conducted during the Korean War — by shipping pieces of paper across oceans and continents by snail mail. In our Armed Forces, classified information is transmitted and received every day by secure electronic means. In commerce, billions of dollars change hands electronically every business day. If electronic means are secure enough for our nation’s most important secrets and for huge sums of money, why is it not possible, in 2010, for deployed service members to vote by a secure means that will guarantee that their ballots are counted?
Captain Wright retired after a career as a judge advocate in the Navy and Navy Reserve. He has been working the military voting issue since 1976.
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Subscribe
PJM Home
If you liked this article, please consider signing up for PJM daily digest.
Pajamas Media appreciates your comments that abide by the following guidelines:
1. Avoid profanities or foul language unless it is contained in a necessary quote or is relevant to the comment.
2. Stay on topic.
3. Disagree, but avoid ad hominem attacks.
4. Threats are treated seriously and reported to law enforcement.
5. Spam and advertising are not permitted in the comments area.
These guidelines are very general and cannot cover every possible situation. Please don't assume that Pajamas Media management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment. We reserve the right to filter or delete comments or to deny posting privileges entirely at our discretion. Please note that comments are reviewed by the editorial staff and may not be posted immediately. If you feel your comment was filtered inappropriately, please email us atstory@pajamasmedia.com.
15 Comments, 14 Threads
1. Ken
How about an amendment to the MOVE Act, so that military members who don’t get their absentee ballots on time are allowed to skip paying state and local income taxes for the year?
November 4, 2010 - 5:17 pm Link to this Comment | Reply
canuck
Good idea but two flaws. Some states have no income taxes and the period should extend through the term of whomever is on the ballot. Six years for Senate and four for President or Governor. Include federal taxes and this will be an incentive to get votes to them.
November 5, 2010 - 3:07 am Link to this Comment | Reply
2. justasimplepatriot
Sign on Marine Barracks outside of Baghdad:
“America is not at war, We are at war. America is at the Mall.”
How do you think this vote travesty impacts our troops.
Raise Hell, America.
November 4, 2010 - 6:07 pm Link to this Comment | Reply
3. Anonymous
I do not see why the military just doesn’t conduct it’s own election right where they are stationed and then add the vote to the state totals.
It is a national disgrace that illegal aliens have their vote more protected than our military members.
November 4, 2010 - 6:08 pm Link to this Comment | Reply
4. Jon Nedved
On Tuesday evening, as I was preparing to vote, I noted with pride that my daughter (registered in the same precinct) had already voted. Immediately above my name on the list of registered voters was the name of my youngest son, who is a Marine currently deployed on a Navy ship. I was saddened to see that he had not voted, and then realized that it was nearly impossible to get/receive mail from him, which is understandable given his location. Why can’t we, as a country, make it easy for those who put their lives on the line defending us to cast a ballot? Why is it easier to come here from a foreign country and obtain social services than it is for our troops to vote? Shame on us!
November 4, 2010 - 6:37 pm Link to this Comment | Reply
5. Steve S
I suspect that the Justice Dept will have plenty of explaining to do with the new Congress. If any of the issues see the light of day is the problem.
November 4, 2010 - 7:34 pm Link to this Comment | Reply
6. Andy Gump (formerly Oscar the Grump)
The disenfranchisement of our military personnel smacks of Stalinist era leadership. Its against the law right now to ask an individual for identification or proof of citizenship. Where as, our military is intentionally left out on purpose. Now that we have a Republican Congress, its first job should be to guarantee the military the right to vote. It should also call for the use of identification at each voting precinct and/or proof of citizenship. Without such guarantees we are only setting ourselves up to have the 2012 election hijacked. If we press the point via Congress and the Bill is rejected by the Senate or the President, it will prove our point.
November 4, 2010 - 9:00 pm Link to this Comment | Reply
7. ITYS
This is an absolute outrage and has been reported in the media for at least 3weeks, yet no resolution. Its disgusting, the calculated incompetence and disenfranchisement was purposeful b/c they know the military overwhelmingly goes R. No ballots to those who put their lives on the line for this country, but votes were taken personally to the convicts in IL. Since when do the convicts get to vote????? Did nay reporter ever ask Obama about this failure???? He’s supposed to be the commander-in-chief and he would actually have garnered some respect had he acted to rectify this problem.
November 4, 2010 - 9:43 pm Link to this Comment | Reply
8. Anonymous
Left/liberals love illegal aliens and piss on our military.
November 5, 2010 - 12:13 am Link to this Comment | Reply
9. Mark Matis
And yet again, “Law Enforcement” is the Great Enabler for this. Be sure to thank them appropriately for the OUTSTANDING job they have done.
November 5, 2010 - 4:48 am Link to this Comment | Reply
10. Eric Jablow
Perhaps disenfranchised soldiers could bring a lawsuit demanding that Illinois and other states forfeit some of their representation in Congress, according to section 2 of the 14th Amendment:
“Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age,* and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.”
November 5, 2010 - 5:08 am Link to this Comment | Reply
11. Claudia
We certainly can complain about the DOJ not doing their job, but we conservatives didn’t do much to make sure this outrage from the 2000 election was remedied and we did have the majority to accomplish it. That said, it does not fall on deaf ears that the Dems seems to be those most prone to disenfranchise the public with scores of groups who’s aim is to commit voter fraud in every way possible, Acorn is a great example. What is it about liberals that honor seems to be something they don’t recognize or understand?
November 5, 2010 - 5:46 am Link to this Comment | Reply
12. kjatexas
Why is it that no one seems to ever go to jail for the kind of voter fraud we see on a regular basis.
November 5, 2010 - 8:01 am Link to this Comment | Reply
13. Bill Lawrence
What must not be forgotten is that this year’s disenfranchisement of the military was in VIOLATION of the law. We need criminal penalties for officials fail to get military ballots out as per the deadline.
November 5, 2010 - 8:25 am Link to this Comment | Reply
14. Joseph Rush Wills, II
The disenfranchisement of military personnel is only part of a larger problem of election fraud. Unfortunately, Americans accept voter fraud and in many cases wink at it. But election fraud is the theft of democracy and attacks the very core of Representative government and the Consent of the Governed in our Declaration of Independence.
Those failing to mail ballots to our brave men and women on the front lines well knew how our defenders would vote; that’s why they were cheated.
Commenter Bill Lawrence suggested criminal penalties for officials who fail to get military ballots out on time; I agree, but make those penalties, and all penalties for voter fraud severe. Not a few months in a minimum security “white collar” penitentury, knowing they’ll be “taken care of” when they gey out, but long years at hard labor at some remote prison camp.
The new Congress needs to address this corruption…and take steps to ensure that those who attempt to “rig” elections in any way get the punishment they deserve.
God Bless our military!
November 5, 2010 - 9:45 am Link to this Comment | Reply
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