Justice Department Files Suit
The Associated Press reported today that the U.S. Department of Justice has filed suit against Alabama concerning the voting rights of military personnel.
It's unfortunate that - again - a court must be used as the stick that drives the State of Alabama to do the right thing. State leaders knew long before the recent threats from the Justice Department that military personnel overseas have problems voting.
State leaders have quickly come up with a solution to fend off the threatened and now-realized lawsuit. However, their solution is aimed more at getting the Justice Department off our collective back than providing a meaningful solution to the plight of military voters.
Moving the primary runoff election back several weeks will give servicemen and servicewomen more time to receive and mail back their ballots. However, this change still leaves military voters at the mercy of mail delivery - especially if they do not decide to vote until late in the absentee voting period.
While I have no quarrel with extending the absentee voting period, we should also look at ways to make it easier and quicker methods for the military to request, receive and vote their absentee ballots. The Pentagon already has an established service that allows for the fax or e-mail transmission of voting materials. During the first Gulf War, Alabama had no problem allowing our soldiers to transmit voting materials via fax. But now, leaders in the legislature and the executive branch say they cannot support these methods, despite the fact that all other states allow the military to utilized some kind of electronic or fax transmission to complete all or part of the absentee voting process.
We should be in the business of empowering our military personnel to exercise the freedoms they fight to protect, especially voting. We should not be looking for excuses to avoid helping them.
It's unfortunate that - again - a court must be used as the stick that drives the State of Alabama to do the right thing. State leaders knew long before the recent threats from the Justice Department that military personnel overseas have problems voting.
State leaders have quickly come up with a solution to fend off the threatened and now-realized lawsuit. However, their solution is aimed more at getting the Justice Department off our collective back than providing a meaningful solution to the plight of military voters.
Moving the primary runoff election back several weeks will give servicemen and servicewomen more time to receive and mail back their ballots. However, this change still leaves military voters at the mercy of mail delivery - especially if they do not decide to vote until late in the absentee voting period.
While I have no quarrel with extending the absentee voting period, we should also look at ways to make it easier and quicker methods for the military to request, receive and vote their absentee ballots. The Pentagon already has an established service that allows for the fax or e-mail transmission of voting materials. During the first Gulf War, Alabama had no problem allowing our soldiers to transmit voting materials via fax. But now, leaders in the legislature and the executive branch say they cannot support these methods, despite the fact that all other states allow the military to utilized some kind of electronic or fax transmission to complete all or part of the absentee voting process.
We should be in the business of empowering our military personnel to exercise the freedoms they fight to protect, especially voting. We should not be looking for excuses to avoid helping them.
posted by Ed at 7:54 PM
3 Comments:
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
Well, it is something. But really anyone who has been in the military knows sometimes the mail take a long time to get to people stationed outside of the US.
In fact, just the other week I was concerned because a few letters had taken 3+ weeks to get to me! And I am in Korea! Somewhere where mail has been established for decades!
I believe that Riley is watching out for the military (JOKING)...I wonder if his trip to Iraq involved taking Absentee ballots?
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home