Americans abroad face balloting challenges / Complicated system could shut out civilians, military

Four years after overseas voting became a battleground in the presidential election in Florida, millions of civilians and soldiers living abroad still face a bewildering and unwieldy system of absentee balloting that could prevent their votes from being counted.

Election officials concede that tens of thousands of Americans overseas might not get their ballots in time to cast their votes.

Late primaries and legal wrangling caused local election offices in several battleground states to fail to mail out their absentee ballots by Sept. 20, a cutoff date that officials say is necessary to ensure that everyone can return them on time.

In Florida in 2000, late-arriving ballots became a divisive issue when some were counted and others were disqualified.

The tardy ballots are just one of several setbacks or missteps that have affected the ability of the estimated 4.4 million eligible voters overseas to participate in the election.

Some have been unable to send their registrations to a Pentagon contractor's computers clogged by thousands of voter forms. Others were denied access to a Web site designed to help Americans abroad vote. And many voters simply have had trouble navigating the complicated rules and methods that determine how and when to register and vote and which vary by state.

"I found it so convoluted, I gave up," said Alex Campos, a management consultant in London who repeatedly tried to register through the Pentagon's program, without success.

To help speed the balloting process, federal officials activated a system last week in which voters can obtain absentee ballots instantly through the Internet. But the Web site, www.myballot.mil, will be offered only to members of the military and their families, raising concerns about fairness in a voting-assistance program that the Pentagon has been directed to run for civilians as well.

In addition, 23 states have already declined to join the new system for various reasons, including security, according to Pentagon and state officials.

People on both sides vying for the overseas vote say the balloting system remains so flawed that some are predicting legal battles if these votes prove to be crucial to the outcome of the presidential race.

"If it's a close election, one can expect a great deal of challenges given the confused state of this complex matrix of rules and regulations, and the lack of central leadership in their implementation," said Jim Brenner, the executive director of Americans Overseas for Kerry.

In recent interviews, Pentagon officials defended their voting-assistance effort and said the Internet ballot retrieval system was only one item in a menu of services the program was using to help both military and civilian voters.

"There is no favoritism," said Scott Wiedmann, the program's deputy director, adding that the system must be limited to the military because only the identities of service members can be verified.

Other efforts under way to help overseas voters include a special federal ballot that all voters can request if their regular ballot does not arrive from their state on time. But election volunteers working overseas say that many voters do not know the ballots exist, or if they do, do not know how to use them.

Both Republicans and Democrats are pushing hard to solicit these voters in the aftermath of some assessments that President Bush's support among the estimated 500,000 members of the military and their families overseas may have weakened.

There is little direct polling of soldiers, but Peter D. Feaver, a sociology professor at Duke University, says surveys have shown that while most officers are staunchly Republican, the newer rank-and-file have been equally divided between the parties.

"Kerry will do better in this group than Gore did, but he will not reverse the Bush advantage," Feaver said.

There is also little polling of the 3.9 million civilians abroad. But last month, a Zogby poll of Americans who had passports found that they supported John Kerry over Bush, 58 percent to 35 percent.

The concern about states not getting their overseas ballots out in time surfaced most recently in a report this month by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, which found that 18 states did not have systems in place to mail ballots at least 45 days before the election.

In 2001, the General Accounting Office examined overseas voting and found numerous problems, from inadequate public education on the subject to late ballot mailings.

In surveying small counties throughout the country, for example, the Government Accountability Office found that 8.1 percent of the overseas votes had been thrown out mostly because they were late or not properly completed.

In response, the Pentagon placed voting-assistance officers in military units worldwide and retooled their general Web site for voting assistance in an effort to help more Americans navigate the labyrinth of local voting procedures that apply overseas.

But some eager voters say the Web site remains difficult to use and that program workers have provided wrong information.

Questions have also arisen about the private contractor hired by the Pentagon to handle faxes and unsealed completed ballots at its offices in Alexandria, Va.

The company, Omega Technologies, was sued last year by Adams National Bank, which accused it of failing to pay off a loan of more than $500,000. In court records, the bank also said Omega improperly accessed a Pentagon computer to reroute its government payments to the company's new lender.

A lawyer for Omega, Daryle Jordan, denied any wrongdoing by Omega and said it had countersued Adams in contesting the debt claim. Pentagon officials said they were not aware of the litigation or another billing dispute brought in 2002 by a Nashville resort that Omega settled without admitting or denying accusations that it fabricated a Federal Express record. Jordan said Omega did not consider the litigation relevant to its Pentagon work.

Now it's clear why the Kerry/Edwards legal team has been launching frivolous legal action over the ballots - to delay and disenfranchise the military voters. Additional evidence of how well they "support the troops."

Get real.. what active duty military member in their right mind would vote for Kerry... Kerry voted NAY for supplemental funding, Kerry voted NAY for increased pay... Kerry would most likely cut the active duty pay rates... In addition, Kerry was a traitor to this country when he returned from Vietnam... I don't believe any well informed Soldier, Sailor, Marine would vote for Kerry...

From the post: "The concern about states not getting their overseas ballots out in time surfaced most recently in a report this month by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, which found that 18 states did not have systems in place to mail ballots at least 45 days before the election."

From the post: "In 2001, the General Accounting Office examined overseas voting and found numerous problems, from inadequate public education on the subject to late ballot mailings."

I hope someone - other than people sitting around in their pajamas - is paying attention to all the information being put out on what "can" and probably "will" go wrong with this election - (like someone in Congress) But it seems no matter which way you slice it - the election process is being taken out of the hands of the people.

Can't anyone nowadays figure out how to set rules - then make sure the rules are carried out - ? People had 4 years to prevent problems -

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