Speaker Pelosi Failed to Protect our Overseas Military’s Right to Vote (Rep. Trent Franks)
October 24th, 2008
I was troubled today by yet another story demonstrating the alarming lack of regard for the fact that our military men and women are being disenfranchised from our democratic voting process. In Fairfax County, VA, it has been reported that military ballots are being literally thrown in the garbage because of a “technicality” in the absentee ballot form.
Furthermore, the Justice Department has now filed a lawsuit against the State of Vermont and Vermont Secretary of State Deborah L. Markowitz, for failure to comply with the Uniformed Overseas Citizen Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), legislation intended to ensure that uniformed military members and overseas citizens may effectively participate in federal elections.
These cases only demonstrate the undeniable fact that the absentee voting system used for our overseas military is broken.
According to the Election Assistance Commission, only 5.5% of eligible overseas and absentee voters in uniform actually had their votes counted in the 2006 mid-term election.
Our democratic system which the noble men and women of our Armed Forces are fighting to protect is grounded on the right to elect our national leaders. Our troops have fought, bled, and died to protect that right and if anyone deserves to have their vote counted, it is them.
Due to these troubling trends, I joined Congressman Kevin McCarthy and several other Members of Congress to write a letter to Speaker Pelosi before Congress adjourned, requesting that the House Leadership work in a bipartisan manner to quickly move and pass H.R. 5673, the “Military Voting Protection Act of 2008,” in time to ensure that our men and women serving overseas in our armed forces are able exercise their basic right to vote in the 2008 election.
Knowing that we have experienced problems with counting the absentee ballots from our soldiers, Speaker Pelosi and Democrat leadership have no excuse for disenfranchising our overseas military. On what literally would have been a five-minute vote on this legislation, Leadership cannot say they simply ran out of time before the end of the legislative session; especially when the Senate made time to pass the identical bill two days before we adjourned.
It will be an unspeakable disgrace if this injustice stands, and those who risk their lives for American freedom have their ballots arrogantly and deliberately ripped out of their hands.
Permalink | Comment on this story (2 posted)
By
