Major court victory for military voters (MD) (Great news)

Election Law Center ^ | October 29, 2010 | Christian Adams

[jazusamo]

BREAKING NEWS:  Congratulations to the Military Voter Protection Project.  They have broken new legal ground in protecting military voters.  A Maryland Federal Court ruled today that it is a violation of a soldier's constitutional rights to not receive his complete ballot on time under the MOVE Act.  The court ruled that the John Doe officer stationed in Iraq had standing to sue under the federal law requiring ballots to be sent by a certain date (MOVE Act). 

This is huge news which will affect the 2012 elections.

This is an enormously important decision.  One thing it means is that military members need not wait on the bureaucrats in Washington D.C. at the Justice Department to sue.  It may end the monopoly on DOJ's oversight of military voting, which is a good thing for everyone in uniform.  It means that in 2012, during the Presidential election, we won't have to wait for DOJ to act.  Individual soldiers and sailors may have recourse to the courts.  They can act immediately in court, like they are trained to do in combat zones.  It is an enormous victory for military voters.  It means that the Eric Holder military voting disaster  of 2010 might not repeat in 2012.

This also shows that people are more effective than their government.  DOJ filed no lawsuit in Maryland.  MVP did.  MVP  won a victory for military voters from every state.

[jazusamo]

Obama, Holder and Dems will not be pleased.

[RebelTXRose]

Oh DARN!

[jazusamo]

Please bump the Freepathon and donate or become a monthly donor!

[Edgerunner]

ok by me

[9422WMR]

Naw, the 9th circus court of anneals will rule it unconstitutional for US soldiers to vote./S
But illegals? NO ID REQUIRED dammit!!!!!

[668 - Neighbor of the Beast]

Obama, Holder and Dems will not be pleased.

There's a bigger problem. Elena Kagan will not be pleased.

[FrankR]

[NEMDF]

Does anyone know what the status of this is in IL at this time? Wasn’t it a HUGE # that did not get ballots on time in IL? Didn’t they get some kind of “pass” from DOJ?

[jazusamo]

Bump!

[antiRepublicrat]

A good deed for a lawyer to do right now would be to write a template pleading for a lawsuit over late absentee ballots that cites this case and mirrors its pleadings, and put it online. Have a form a soldier can fill out giving his name, county, state, where he's stationed, etc., mix that with a database and spit out pro se lawsuit paperwork that he just has to get to his county court if his absentee ballot is only a day late in 2012.

[jazusamo]

It looks to me like there will some of our military from Illinois that will be disenfranchised, no one really knows it seems.

Excerpt from recent article:

"Brady said over 2,800 ballots were sent out late, and it remains to be seen if those ballots will all be returned on time. And State Rep. Elaine Nekritz, D-Des Plaines, said that will be one of the deciding factors if lawmakers hold hearings or hold a more formal inquiry."

Lawmakers May Probe Late Military Ballots

[jazusamo]

Article from two weeks ago:

Illinois officials "caught lying" about military ballots

[sourcery]

Deadlines that cannot be met because ballots are sent late cannot Constitutionally be applied. Every vote must count, provided all legally-enforceable requirements are met by the voter. Deadlines missed due to (in)actions of officials are not Constitutionally enforceable. That means ALL such votes must be counted, regardless of any deadlines--even if that means decertifying an election result or even unseating an office holder who has been wronguflly sworn in because of an change in the outcome of the election.

[jazusamo]

New piece that covers the Illinois fiasco:

Investors Business Daily on Military Voting