Posted on 10/30/2004 7:32:15 AM PDT by Former Military Chick
HARRISBURG - The state will count absentee ballots of Pennsylvanians living abroad and serving in the military overseas that arrive up to eight days after Tuesday's election under a compromise brokered yesterday by a federal judge.
Yet the agreement might not be the final word on a contentious battle pitting Republican leaders and conservative talk-show hosts against Democratic Gov. Rendell, who had until yesterday opposed the extension.
Hours after a federal judge approved the settlement, GOP leaders filed a separate motion in state court to push back the deadline even further.
Still, parents of the two Army enlisted men serving in the Middle East who had petitioned the federal court for more time said they were pleased with the compromise, although it was unlikely it would allow their sons' votes to return home.
"I've accepted that fact, but I hope what we did will help others have their votes counted," said Susan Schramm, the mother of Matthew J. Schramm of Schwenksville, Montgomery County, who is serving in Kuwait. "We owe it to the rest of them. They have offered up their lives for us."
Robert J. Reitz, the father of Steven J. Reitz of Venango County, who is stationed in Iraq and who received his ballot Thursday, said, "We've done some good for our troops overseas."
Before the agreement, overseas ballots had to be received by yesterday to be counted for all state offices and by Election Day for the presidential election.
Pennsylvania's 67 counties have sent about 26,700 absentee ballots overseas, but it is unclear how many were mailed to military personnel, who tend to vote Republican.
Until yesterday, Rendell opposed moving the deadline, arguing that it would confuse voters and put undue burden on already overburdened county election boards. He had said he would support an extension if given evidence that military voters had not received their ballots on time.
Yesterday, he acknowledged that the situation with Reitz was just such proof.
"We all stood up for that soldier's rights," the governor said.
Attorneys for the Rendell administration and for the two soldiers hashed out the agreement during three hours of closed-door talks with U.S. District Judge Yvette Kane.
Although mired in the subtleties of arcane election law, the question of whether to extend the deadline came down to timing: How far back could the state push it and still certify election results by the Dec. 7 cutoff date?
Counties had delayed sending absentee ballots overseas because of uncertainty over whether the courts would allow Ralph Nader to be a presidential candidate. Nonetheless, Rendell officials have said that all but two counties - rural Huntingdon and Venango - met a Sept. 20 deadline for those mailings.
But many soldiers serving abroad have yet to receive ballots because of wartime postage delays, GOP officials have argued.
Under the agreement, overseas ballots postmarked on or before Nov. 2 will be counted as long as they reach their county election bureaus by 5 p.m. Nov. 10.
Rendell's stance softened as the day progressed.
In the early morning, he had offered to extend the deadline until Nov. 5, then, hours later, he offered Nov. 9, before eventually giving up one more day.
By settling on Nov. 10, the state leaves itself enough time to count the ballots and factor them into a new law triggering a recount in statewide races closer than half of one percentage point, said Mark Aronchick, a Philadelphia election-law expert hired by the Rendell administration.
Yesterday's accord pertains only to votes cast for presidential candidates. The two sides have agreed to file an emergency request with Commonwealth Court to extend the deadline until Nov. 10 for state offices as well.
The settlement to the case comes nine days after Kane rejected a request by the U.S. Justice Department to extend the deadline by two weeks.
Kane ruled at that time that federal lawyers failed to prove their case, in part because they never presented evidence that a single overseas voter would be harmed.
Yesterday, she lauded the parents of the two soldiers for their persistence to "ensure that your young people are not disenfranchised."
Attorneys for the father of an Army soldier from Altoona and Alan Novak, chairman of the Republican State Committee, filed a separate motion in Commonwealth Court late yesterday seeking a 30-day extension.
For more than a week, Rendell has come under intense pressure from GOP officials who have accused him of trying to suppress the military vote.
His main phone line has been swamped by more than 1,000 calls, prompted by conservative talk-show hosts who have urged listeners to complain. The volume has forced the administration to route calls to a recorded message explaining the governor's position on the issue, said Kate Philips, Rendell's press secretary.
The Republican Party was exploiting the issue "big time... to try and create the impression that Democrats don't care about the military," Rendell said in one of two conference calls with reporters yesterday.
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Contact staff writer Mario F. Cattabiani at 717-787-5990 or mcattabiani@phillynews.com. Inquirer staff writers Nathan Gorenstein and John Sullivan contributed to this article.
This morning he said the absentee votes were up to 70% as opposed to 2000. Did not say they needed to do better, almost giving the impression that he does NOT care if they make it ... he was just so NEGATIVE.
This same kind of pressure needs to be brought in every state with a problem like this! Fast Eddy just got his a$$ handed to him.
How does he know that? Has he already counted the military votes????
Fat, bloated, liberal-demokkkRAT-socialist-commie-nazi-fascist Eddie "I Hate America" Rendell, got his lardass handed to him by the GOPers - who grew spines on Thursday — here in PA. He'll still be quietly doing what he can to subvert any and all pro-Bush votes by 8pm, Tuesday. Count on it.
Rendell's a putz. I heard he could have extended the deadline by just issuing an order on it. Obviously he couldn't bring himself to do that. That would have been the manly and right thing to do, and we know "Fast Eddie" isn't about to do anything manly or right.
Rendell needs to go and go fast. You know, all this will make for terrific on air ad's next cycle. All things come full cirle.
FMCDH(BITS)
I was with Weldon the other day when he delivered the documents to Fast Eddy's office... I kinda invited myself up there just so I could see the look on Fast Eddy's face.. too bad the SOB was out with Kerry that day.
FMCDH(BITS)
Nope - he's counting on the prison votes. There's already evidence of massive absentee ballot fraud at prisons - dimrat supporters walking out of the PA prisons with boxes of signed absentee ballots. Gosh, can we all guess who those votes are for ?
Sure wish I lived closer so I could get in on some of these activities. It figures the fat pig was out of his office sniffing Kerry's behind. I hope he goes by the wayside when he runs for reelection.
Hey get yer butt down here! I think I am gonna show up in DC tomorrow if the SwiftVet thing comes together!
absentee voter **ping**
Have to tell you, I cannot express my anger to the PA governor. The idea that first he would not extend the deadline, then extends it to stamp date of Tuesday, while kind, was not at what he wanted to do.
He then says the numbers increased from the last election. He continues without saying we CAN DO MORE.
NOPE he just reemphasized that the 200 or so votes wont make a difference. The interviewer said what if it is more and he just LAUGHED and said he doubted it.
Oh I was ready to yell, but, why waste the oxygen.
I hope when the military returns, they stand proudly against this weasel. I see the ad's now and Rendell should be running scared.
Thank you Curt Weldon. He was the most vocal opponent making this happen. Also saw him on local news (Philly area) lambasting the Holmsburg prison warden regarding the absentee ballots being submitted for prisoners...which Rendell had a HUGE part in facilitating. There were college students carrying away ballots from prisoners and he got his hands on one..in front of the camera, showing the illegal activity of have students hand carry these ballots of the prison grounds. They're supposed to do some screeing to make sure the prisoner is not in for a felony, evidently, things are loosey-goosey in the Pa. prison system.
bttt
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Oct2004/n10222004_2004102203.html
Online Write-In Absentee Ballot Offered for Overseas Voters
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Oct. 22, 2004 — Deployed or stationed overseas and still
waiting for your state absentee ballot to arrive in the mail? There's
no need to sweat it out any more.
The online federal write-in absentee ballot gives U.S. citizens
overseas who haven't yet received the absentee ballots they applied
for the chance to vote in the upcoming elections, according to Polly
Brunelli, director of the Federal Voting Assistance Program.
The Federal Voting Assistance Program announced the online ballot
procedures Oct. 21.
Brunelli said the federal write-in absentee ballot has been used for
the past decade. Demand is particularly high this year, she said,
thanks for education efforts by the Federal Voting Assistance
Program.
The program staff has pre-positioned the ballot forms at many
overseas sites "so it would be readily available" to those who need
it, Brunelli said. Forms also can be downloaded from the Federal
Voting Assistance Program's Web site.
Brunelli emphasized that not everyone overseas can use the ballot. To
do so, she said, they must meet three very specific conditions:
* be outside the United States, including APO/FPO addresses;
* have applied for a regular ballot early enough so that the request
was received by the appropriate local election official at least 30
days before the election; and
* not have received the regular absentee ballot they requested from
their state.
The federal write-in absentee ballot is used to vote for candidates
for federal offices, including the president and vice president, U.S.
senators and representatives, and delegates or resident commissioners
to the Congress, in general elections.
Some states now allow servicemembers and other U.S. citizens overseas
to use the ballot in elections other than general elections or for
offices other than federal offices. Chapter 3 of the 2004-05 Voting
Assistance Guide details specific state or territorial requirements.
When using the federal write-in absentee ballot, voters may
electronically fill in the form before it is printed or print it and
manually fill in the form. In either case, officials said, the voter
must manually sign and date the ballot. Specific instructions for
submitting the ballot are outlined on the Federal Voting Assistance
Program Web site.
Forms can be mailed at no cost to the voter from APO and FPO
addresses, as well as other addresses within the U.S. postal system,
using postage-paid indicia printed onto the mailing envelope from the
Federal Voting Assistance Program Web site.
Voters who receive their state ballot after submitting either version
of the federal write-in absentee ballot should vote and submit their
state ballot any time up to and including Election Day, Nov. 2,
officials said. Officials advise them to note on the state ballot
envelope that they also submitted a federal write-in absentee ballot.
For more information, contact the DoD Voting Information Center,
which can be reached toll-free from 64 countries using the numbers
listed on the Federal Voting Assistance Program site. The Voting
Information Center provides recorded messages from candidates, as
well as other information concerning elections, 24 hours a day.
Servicemembers can also get help from unit voting assistance
officers.
I saw it too, and they said that the prisoners put their home address on the ballot not the prison, so they probably won't get caught.
Funniest thing I've heard all morning. Rendell despises Hannity. If Hannity were laying in the road, and no one was watching, Rendell would order someone to run him over. He's the worst kind of criminal there is: a "public servant" in the 60s Richard Daley mold.
When the lib-dem garbage finishes "sorting" them, they'll all be Kerry votes.
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