HB711: Another Look and Clarification

Ed Still responded to my analysis of Alabama HB711. I will use this entry to clarify my commentary about this legislation.

I did mention in previous entry that "instant runoff voting" (IRV) has potential in helping military personnel and citizens residing overseas to vote in primary runoff elections. Obviously, IRV would indeed be beneficial to those voters who are able to timely apply for absentee voting in the primary election. However, adoption of IRV for the runoff helps only this class of military and overseas voters.

Under HB711, if a service member or overseas citizen decides to vote in the primary election too late to make timely application for the absentee ballot, then he or she would not be able to avail him- or herself of IRV. He or she would then have to hope that there is enough time to receive the regular runoff ballot and return it.

Additionally, as I indicated previously, if a service person or overseas citizen decides to vote in the runoff, even though he or she didn't apply to vote in the primary, HB711 provides no relief for the short timetable between the primary and runoff. The voter is once again at the mercy of the same timetable to which the DOJ objects.

Ed Still responds to this statement by saying "How many absentee voters apply to vote only in the runoff? A very small percentage, I would suggest." While his observations is probably true, why should we dismiss that small percentage of voters when there are ways to enable them to vote as well - even without shifting the date of the runoff election?

It seems to me that a hybrid solution is probably the best answer. IRV can be offered to those who apply to vote in the primary election. Electronic transmission (fax, secure e-mail or web site) of all or part of the absentee balloting process could be permitted as fail-safe mechanisms for those who were unable to apply for a primary election ballot.

Which brings me back to my support of SB23 introduced by Senator Gerald Dial. That bill would utilize the Pentagon's electronic transmission service for absentee balloting materials for all elections, not just the primary runoff. According to the Pentagon, all other 49 states currently permit at least part of the absentee voting process to be conducted through electronic transmission.

Although a 40-day absentee voting period applies to other types of elections, many voters do not become engaged in an election until the last few weeks prior election day. If a service member or overseas citizen decides so late that he or she wants to vote in a primary or general election, then chances are there will not be sufficient time to apply for, receive, vote and return the absentee ballot in time for it to be counted.

Given that a technological solution exists, it seems that we should adopt proven methods for helping the military and overseas citizens in all elections, not just primary runoff elections.

HB711: Military Absentee Voting

In response to the Department of Justice lawsuit regarding military absentee voters, the Alabama House of Representatives has passed HB711. The bill attempts to address the concerns of the Justice Department by creating an "instant runoff" ballot. It would leave the runoff date scheduled for the last Tuesday in June, which is on June 27th this year.

The instant runoff ballot would be sent with the primary election ballot to military voters who are overseas. Using this special ballot, when an office has more than one candidate, the voter would mark the candidates in order of preference. For those candidates involved in a runoff, election officials would review the preferences of the military voters to determine which one should get the vote of each military voter.

The instant runoff ballot has potential. However, it has several problems:

1) It doesn't address the primary reason for the DOJ lawsuit. The Department of Justice contends that there is not enough time between the primary and the runoff elections for military personnel to exercise their right to vote in the primary runoff. HB711 as passed does not do anything to increase the amount of time for this absentee voting period.

2) HB711's instant runoff provision assists military voters in the runoff election only if they have applied to vote in the primary election. If a military personnel do not apply in time to vote in the primary election, they will be afforded no protection in casting their vote in the primary runoff. They will be left to vote under a process that the Department of Justice has already says is in violation of federal law. (It is not unheard of for voters to miss the primary election but then decide to vote in the runoff election.)

3) The violations alleged by DOJ involve citizens who live overseas, not just military personnel. While all the attention has been focused on military personnel, Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act protects voting rights not only for military personnel and their dependents but also citizens who are residing overseas: diplomats, businessmen and businesswomen, missionaries, etc. However, HB711 would extend its additional protections only to military voters. [Thanks to Ed Still for bringing this error to my attention . I inadvertently included this criticism which was directed at a different draft bill I had seen on this matter.]

It is odd to see the House of Representatives go through the contortions written into this bill. The bill may not resolve the lawsuit filed by the Justice Department and it really extends only marginal benefits in ensuring that American voters overseas are able to exercise their rights.

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.