Posted on 07/10/2004 2:59:59 PM PDT by The Libertarian Dude
By Jon E. Dougherty
© 2000 WorldNetDaily.com
Forty-one Republican House members have sponsored a bill that would force Florida to count all military absentee ballots received during the 2000 presidential race.
Rep. Larry Combest, R-Texas, has signed on to the "Armed Services Vote Rescue Act," H.R. 5642, sponsored by Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz., which is designed to "strengthen the Federal Uniformed and Overseas Absentees Voting Act by providing that all ballots cast by those in the U.S. military stationed overseas shall count, if there is no evidence of fraud."
Rep. Larry Combest, R-Texas
Lack of witness signature, postmark or questions about how the ballot was requested would not be grounds for disqualification, Combest said.
"The men and women who put their lives on the line every day to protect our nation should have their votes counted -- it is a constitutional right," said the Texas congressman. "This bill sends a clear signal to election officials that votes cast by military personnel are equal in the eyes of the law and should be counted just as any other vote would."
At issue are many and perhaps thousands of otherwise "legally cast" military absentee ballots that were not counted by some Florida counties because they lacked dates or postmarks.
Combest and other lawmakers have pointed out, however, that some ballots cast by overseas military personnel are sent through duty stations that have no postmark machines and, therefore, no way to date the ballots.
Yet, federal write-in and other absentee ballots require that service members sign and date the actual ballots -- signatures that must be affirmed by a witness.
According to Combest, instructions were not provided to tell voters to date the ballots. Other ballots were erroneously postmarked after arriving in the U.S.
"Al Gore keeps saying that he wants to make sure that 'every vote is counted,'" said the congressman. "Yet over 1,400 military votes have been thrown out.
"Only one group, overseas military personnel, had an organized and systematic campaign, including an extensive five-page memo distributed by Democrat political operatives, to disqualify their votes," said Combest, referring to Tallahassee lawyer Mark Herron's memo sent to all 67 Florida counties instructing local canvassing boards how to legally toss military ballots -- said by most analysts to likely have favored George W. Bush.
"This is an outrage, not only to servicemen and servicewomen, but also to all Americans," he added. "If Florida election officials will not count legitimate ballots sent in good faith, then Congress will force them to do so."
The importance of the bill in the Florida vote is that it is retroactive and hence would force the state to count all absentee ballots that were cast devoid of fraud or evidence of tampering.
Combest said legal experts at the Congressional Research Service and the House Legislative Counsel have concluded that this retroactive application is clearly constitutional.
But critics of the measure say such a law would constitute a violation of Article 1, Sect. 9 of the Constitution because it would become an ex post facto law.
Nevertheless, Combest said five of the top veterans groups also support the bill, including the Air Force Sergeants Association and the Navy League of the United States.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=15630
July 09, 2004
Military ballots get special handling
By Larry Wheeler
Gannett News Service
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-3079181.php
The Bush administration is giving special status to ballots cast overseas by U.S. military personnel. The move aims to avoid one of the most controversial aspects of the 2000 presidential vote recount in Florida and is important politically because military votes historically favor Republican candidates.
The Pentagon and the U.S. Postal Service have set up a system to speed ballots cast by soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines stationed in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
The system includes color-coded mailing trays, use of Express Mail and orders that mail clerks cancel, or postmark, all military voting ballots to avoid confusion once the envelopes arrive at county election offices.
“Our military postal personnel will see these trays and they will move first through their system,” said Charles Abell, principal deputy undersecretary for personnel and readiness at the Defense Department.
The Bush administration and others hope to avoid the uncertainty and legal bedlam that accompanied the 2000 presidential vote recount in Florida.
With just hundreds of votes separating George Bush and Al Gore, the campaigns briefly turned to ballots from overseas military personnel to help settle the outcome. Those ballots were still trickling in after Election Day,
Knowing many of the military votes would go for Bush, GOP lawyers pressed county canvassing boards to count as many of the ballots as possible.
Democrats sought to have the ballots declared invalid for any number of reasons, including lack of a required witness signature and date or the absence of a cancellation mark to prove the ballot was mailed no later than Election Day.
Military and election officials could not say how ballots cast by the large number of military personnel now stationed abroad will affect this year’s election. There are currently 141,000 military troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a Pentagon spokeswoman.
Officials could not provide a breakdown of where those troops are registered to vote.
I hope military commanders twist the troops' arms to vote, and that those ballots are guarded all the way from Iraq, etc., through the counting process. I'm as much worried about the little socialist weasel in his Che Guevera T-shirt working the graveyard shift and chucking military ballots at some remote USPS annex as I am about corrupt election officials trying to disqualify them on a technicality (though the latter may affect more votes). Good post!
That's why I've been wondering which states require that ONLY the USPS can handle them, there and back... seems to me any damn carrier could handle them - UPS, FedEx, long as they aren't tampered with en route, who cares?
Seems to me it's part of the "well, the Postal Service is such a wonderful government agency, we should only let them handle them..." mentality.
All that "Bush lost the popular vote" BS is....well, just BS.
We have to watch very carefully this November. And October.
Yep, those dern Liberals demanded that the military ballots were postmarked on or before election day. As if our men at war have time to vote on time.
I've been looking around a little bit on the web for 'ya. And while I'm not finding a whole lot about the specific method of delivery required for each state, some info is turning up and it's not very encouraging. For instance, check out some of the tables here. Seems the rats are leaving themselves plenty of loopholes to screw around with absentee ballots.
I wonder what would happen if an overseas ballot arrived with a postmark from somewhere in the continental US? In other words, could a soldier expect to have his ballot counted if he put his sealed ballot inside a letter to his parents, say, and asked them to mail it in for him from Anytown, USA? If so, at least the little socialist bastards in the Che T-shirts at the post office wouldn't have the opportunity to toss out thousands of military ballots in one fell swoop.
Despite my intense loathing for the Fed Election Con, I'll check out the link. Thanks.
Palm Beach County's Voting Information:
ABSENTEE BALLOTS
If you will be out of the County or unable to go to the polls on election day, you may request that an Absentee Ballot be mailed to you, by visiting one of our offices, calling, or writing the Supervisor of Elections Office anytime prior to election day, at:
Supervisor of Elections
240 South Military Trail
West Palm Beach, FL 33415
(561) 656-6200
Only the voter, or a member of the voter's immediate family (spouse, child, parent, grandparent, sibling, or legal guardian) may make the request. A voter may designate someone to pick up their ballot for them within four (4) days of the election. The designee must provide us with written authorization by the elector and present photo identification when picking up the elector's ballot. You may also vote in person at one of our offices within two weeks of an election. To vote in person, you must present a photo ID with a signature, or complete an affidavit.
All voters requesting Absentee Ballots must provide the following information:
- Name,
- Residence address
- Address where the ballot is to be mailed
- Date of birth,
- Voter's signature (if Absentee Ballot requested by mail)
- Requestor's name (if other than the voter)
- Requestor's relationship to the voter
- Requestor's address
- Requestor's driver's license number (if available)
- Requestor's signature
If you do vote by absentee ballot, please be sure to follow the included instructions very carefully! The voter must personally vote the ballot (unless assistance is required due to blindness, disability, or the inability to read and write). In order for your ballot to be counted, it must contain your signature and the signature and address of a qualified witness. A qualified witness is anyone 18 years of age or older.
Please note that the County Canvassing Board may reject any absentee ballots that do not contain all of the above information.
Your voted ballot must be in the Supervisor of Elections Office by 7:00 pm on election day in order to be counted. Voted absentee ballots cannot be turned in at the polls!
http://www.pbcelections.org/voteinfo.htm
Man, are we on the same page when it comes to free markets! When will the multitudes learn that government is NOT the only source of problem-solving solutions - no, scratch that... government IS no source for those solutions.
Thanks, I'll check out that info after I log off here.
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