DoD decides on voting waivers
Associated Press reports that the Defense Department has decided which States will and which won’t get waivers for the new Military and Overseas Voter Act (MOVE Act) that most affects the vote count of service members serving overseas;
Not getting the waiver calls into question how the affected states – Wisconsin, Hawaii, Alaska and Colorado – will comply with deadlines for counting all votes cast for the Nov. 2 election by members of the military and other Americans living overseas.
The Defense Department granted Delaware, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Washington the waivers.
It’s funny, but Vermont and Minnesota moved their primaries to be in compliance with the mandated 45-day turnaround time for mailed absentee ballots. The others just thought it’d be easier to disenfranchise their military voters, I suppose.
As far as I’m concerned, there’s no legitimate excuse for a waiver. Those States all have the same number of days on their calender as the States in compliance with the MOVE Act. If they can make accommodations for the elderly, the handicapped, the illiterate morons, then they can accommodate the people who make it possible to have free elections.
Category: Military issues
Agreed.
I agree with you, Jonn. Now- is it cooincidence that the most liberal states were granted waivers? Am I reading too much into this?
I live in Massachusetts, and fortunately I live in a very patriotic and military/veteran friendly town! When I was deployed to Iraq in ’03-’04, I voted by absentee ballot, and I HOPE my ballots were counted!!!! That being said, I’ve spoken in the past with the folks in my local election office, and they’ve assured me that as soon as the absentee ballots are printed, they send them out! At the time I was deployed it took about 7-10 days to get a letter to Iraq, which means when I got it, it HAD to go back in the mail the next day to ensure it got back home in time!
Plus, it helps that in my town, the Chairman of the Board of Elections is a Veteran himself!!!!!
Of course Massachusetts getting a waiver from this law is no surprise…the guy who currently occupies the White House, and the Gov of MA, are old law school buddies!!!!!
NEED I SAY MORE!!!!!
Paul,
Good thing you were able to vote but a one day turn time to get back in time!!! That’s cutting it a little close especially if you’re out on a long patrol mission in the mountains… Bottom line is that they need to do better than expecting soldiers to turn it in 1 day.
Minnesota did indeed get the system changed, but the downside is that the entire election cycle moved up a month and a half. Lawn signs were allowed to go up in June, four and a half months before the election.
All things being equal, I still think the military could implement some form of secure internet voting with much less fuss than getting paper ballots to remote outposts in A-stan. I can log on with a CAC card from my personal PC and read restricted info, but we can’t send a ballot by satellite? Nonsense.
Dave,
You’re making way to much sense…..stop it!
Is there a day that goes by that state and federal politicians don’t test the breaking point of their constituents? Are they trying to goad the American people into another revolution? This is shameful.
Dave, On that note I don’t see why they can’t use the AKO system in some way to facilitate absentee voting for Army personnel. I know the Marines have a similar system. Where there is a will there is a way.
OT-
yeah I see both sides of this. On the one hand, I know for sure that my vote didn’t count in 2006 because I didn’t get my ballot until 4 days before the election. On the other hand, as a guy running for office in Minnesota, the election cycle didn’t need to be made any longer than it already was.
If you give the military a 30 day window before the election to make sure every soldier votes, whether by AKO email or printing a ballot and flying it out to a remote COP, you solve the problem without changing primaries.
BOHICA… blue states screwin’ military folk for left/liberals benefit again.
Old Tanker,
Yes, I know it was a tight window, but unless this gutlessly liberal and DUMBocrat controlled state I live in changes the election laws in this state, the window to turn around an absentee ballot from an overseas war zone will always be tight!
I know I’m fortunate that my town does what it can to ensure people who request absentee ballots get them in the best timely manner possible! Unfortunately, not every Soldier is as lucky as I was 🙁
I looked a tad deeper into the waivers: http://waronterrornews.typepad.com/home/2010/08/military-vote-waivers.html
First thing to realize is that ONLY one state has a primary after 14 Sep, which is more than 45 days before the General Election (2 Nov).
The Second thing is that only a few states wait that late, which means that barring a drawn challenge/recount, there is no reason they can’t print and mail the ballots before 16 Sep.
With that being said, a number of states are STILL waiting to mail the ballots, with wacky solutions to get around the 45 day requirement and several counting the ballots 10 days or more after the General Election to meet the waiver requirements.
Frankly, they don’t expect to use the absentee ballots. If the regular votes decide it, most often, they don’t even bother with the absentees. Don’t believe me? See if Wisconsin waits until November 13th to announce results.
Dave and Paul,
Do you think 30 will do it?? I ask because I was Desert Storm and 30 would not have made it by a long shot(not that I don’t doubt the mail runs way better now!) The current law is 45 days which seems fair, hell, a one or two day turnaround seems tight even for a REMF…it’s not like those guys aren’t busy too…I’m not familiar with AKO but it sounds like a much better option…
Dave, you might have a good idea, allow the soldier to print out an electronic copy and mail it in…that could shorten turn time by half.