POLITICS: Concerns Remain for Military Absentee Ballots, page 1

With the November elections right around the corner, 160,000 soldiers in Iraq & Afghanistan will play "beat the clock", again in hopes their vote will count. While failures of the absentee ballot system surfaced in the 2000 Presidential elections, this problem is not new. In an article by Captain Samuel Wright, JAGC, USNR, he focuses on the origins of this problem. The USPS has introduced new labels to speed delivery which will help but the major delays are within the military mail system and is especially difficult to run the mail in current combat areas. "Mail delays not only deny our troops the fundamental right to vote but also take their toll on troop morale,"said Senator Bond (R-Mo), who also thinks the military system needs major modernization. The military recently scrapped a $22 million pilot program to use electronic means for voting after concerns over security.

www.bradenton.com
WASHINGTON - The Defense Department and the U.S. Postal Service are preparing to ensure military personnel votes are counted in November's election, but one advocate of military voting rights says the reforms miss the real problem.

An April report from the Government Accountability Office, Congress' investigative agency, pointed out long delays and logistical problems with military mail delivery, particularly in Iraq.

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Wasted time and wasted money but still no solution to insure that our fighting men and women have their voice heard while they are putting their lives on the line. How long will it take?

In 1952, the Subcommittee on Elections, Committe on House Administration, U.S. House of Representatives conducted hearings on the likely disenfranchisement of military personnel fighting in the Korean War. The committee report includes a copy of a letter to Congress from President Truman, calling on Congress to enact temporary federal legislation for the 1952 presidential election. Truman wrote, "Any such legislation by Congress should be temporary. since it should be possible to make all necessary changes in State laws before the Congressional elections of 1954."