The Shameful Disenfranchisement of the Military in New York’s Congressional Race (Tedisco/Murphy)

Unfortunately, it is the military voters who will probably end up being disenfranchised and having their votes discounted, thanks to the irresponsible New York Board of Elections and the half-hearted actions of the Department of Justice.

The problem for military voters in places like Iraq and Afghanistan is that it takes so long for absentee ballots to make the trip by mail from county election officials in the United States to bases in combat zones overseas and back again. As a result, only a tiny percentage of their votes get counted. Non-profit groups examining the issue of ballot delivery times and federal agencies like the U.S. Election Assistance Commission all recommend that absentee ballots be mailed to military voters at least 45 days before they’re due. The Chief of Operations for the Military Postal Service Agency recommends at least 60 days.

In New York, ten counties make up the 20th congressional district, and nine of them sent their absentee ballots to overseas voters too late for them to be received and returned in time to count in this election. One county mailed them on March 12 and eight counties mailed them on March 13, all by regular mail with only one exception — Essex County used an express mail service.

Under New York law, absentee ballots in this race had to be postmarked by March 30, the day before the March 31 election, and received by April 7. That left most military voters only 25 days to receive, mark and return their absentee ballots, which everyone agrees isn’t enough time, given overseas mail delays.

> That left most military voters only 25 days to receive, mark and return their absentee ballots, which everyone agrees isn’t enough time, given overseas mail delays.

If they really wanted the problem permanently fixed they would subcontract the entire US elections to the New Zealand Post.

Mail takes no longer than a day to get anywhere in New Zealand. Overseas about a week, two weeks max if delivering to the US. Voter fraud is unheard-of here: everyone by law is on the electoral roll as soon as they turn voting age. That, too, is managed by New Zealand Post. You cannot move house without having the electoral roll changed: it’s not possible, it happens automagically. But just in case it does, everyone in NZ gets multiple opportunities to make sure they get to vote: again, managed by NZ Post.

Military votes? Our NZ military votes on time, and their votes are accurately counted, no matter where in the world they are. As often as not, that’s deep jungle in some godforsaken Pacific island somewhere.

Now, I’m not seriously suggesting that NZ Post be given the task of doing American elections — not because they couldn’t, they certainly could easily — but this problem could be fixed by the authorities if they wanted to. It isn’t an impossible task or even a difficult one. What is lacking is political willpower. Nothing more.

If it can be done by New Zealand it can surely be done by the United States. Accept no excuses: throw temper tantrums until the authorities get this fixed. Like what happens when McDonalds gets your order wrong: ask nicely first and get more strident if they don’t remedy it, up to and including a blue screaming fit.

Soldiers’ votes ought to count.

I hope this is all repaired by the time NY congressman/ chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Charlie Rangel is up for reelection!

From the website of the Workers World Party:

"Dear Comrade Kim Jong Il...

With his leadership [Kim Il Sung], the Korean people defeated the Japanese colonial occupation and soon after brought about the first defeat of the U.S. imperialist military machine. ...

Workers World Party values our close, comradely relations with the Workers Party of Korea very highly. We are proud to have known Kim Il Sung as a great leader and a comrade in the international communist movement. ..."

With comradely solidarity, Sam Marcy Chairperson, Workers World Party" (1994):
http://www.workers.org/marcy/cd/sam94/1994html/s940721.htm

___________________________________________________________

Workers World
55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Support independent news
http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php

International Action Center
55 W 17th St #5C
New York, NY 10011
212-633-6646
iacenter@action-mail.org
ndomtickets@safewebmail.com
www.iacenter.org
[http://www.iacenter.org/polprisoners/dom-2007.htm]

Troops Out Now Coalition
55 W. 17th St. #5C
NY NY 10011
www.TroopsOutNow.org

____________________________________________________

Photo of Charlie Rangel at the podium of a March 19th, 2005 Workers World Party/Troops Out Now rally in Harlem, New York. The occasion marked the 2nd anniversary of the start of the Iraq war. The photo comes from the ("We are proud to have known Kim Il Sung as a great leader and a comrade in the international communist movement. ...") Workers World Party website.

Also appearing at this "peace" rally with the demonRat Charlie Rangel, now chairman of The House Ways and Means Committee, were Saddam Hussein lawyer, Ramsey Clark and convicted terrorist enabler/attorney, Lynne Stewart. Clark, with Workers World Party, started up that other 'peace' group, A.N.S.W.E.R. Clark also heads the International Action Center and was actually once Attorney General of the United States under democrat LBJ.

Source for the photos: Workers World Party website (workers.org)
http://www.workers.org/march19/index2.html

____________________________________________________

Note: A.N.S.W.E.R. is now officially controlled by the Party for Socialism and Liberation. They are an offshoot of Workers World Party. The David Corn article below is from 2002.
http://www.pslweb.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=11315

____________________________________________________

Behind the Placards
The odd and troubling origins of today’s anti-war movement
David Corn, November 07, 2002

"Officially, the organizer of the Washington demonstration was International ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism). But ANSWER is run by WWP [Workers World Party] activists, to such an extent that it seems fair to dub it a WWP front. Several key ANSWER officials -- including spokesperson Brian Becker -- are WWP members. Many local offices for ANSWER’s protest were housed in WWP offices. Earlier this year, when ANSWER conducted a press briefing, at least five of the 13 speakers were WWP activists. They were each identified, though, in other ways, including as members of the International Action Center.

The IAC, another WWP offshoot, was a key partner with ANSWER in promoting the protest. It was founded by Ramsey Clark, attorney general for President Lyndon Johnson in the 1960s."

http://www.laweekly.com/2002-11-07/news/behind-the-placards

War zones need 45 days to ensure the ballots will return on time, but Obama’s Justice Dept. only gave them 30 days.

Jim Tedisco needs lawyers to fight this, and you can help him out here:

https://www.icontribute.us/jimtedisco/

Or send a check made out to “Tedisco Ballot Integrity Fund” and mail it to:

Tedisco Ballot Inttegrity Fund
P.O. Box 162
Clifton Partk, NY 12065

btw, I’m going to include a few brief comments about what I would like Jim to do when he (hopefully) goes to Congress.

And while you have your checkbook out, send a check to FreeRepublic.com. That’s what I’m going to do. After all, we would be able to share information without FR.

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