The military voting mess of 2010 isn’t over. In some states, ballots continue to roll in. Whether or not these late ballots will be counted remains to be seen. Posted on 11/17/2010 6:00:54 AM PST by Kaslin
If you serve our nation and your ballot came too late or wasn’t counted, let PJM know so we can get the message to Congress. Send your stories to story@pajamasmedia.com.
The military voting mess of 2010 isn’t over. In some states, ballots continue to roll in. Whether or not these late ballots will be counted remains to be seen.
I have learned that voters deployed across Iraq and Afghanistan received ballots far too late to be effective. The MOVE Act of 2009 was designed to fix this problem, but may have failed. One reason for the failure: open contempt inside the Department of Justice to the mandates of the new law.
It will be up to the new Congress to examine what happened in 2010 and to implement a remedy that prevents the same mess in 2012, and ending the DOJ monopoly on enforcing the law should top the list. Congress should give soldiers and sailors the right to sue when ballots don’t mail on time. DOJ bureaucrats can no longer be trusted as exclusive stewards of military voting rights.
Pajamas Media has extensively covered the military voting mess of 2010 and how DOJ dropped the ball over and over again. From failing to provide the states with written guidance on the new law, to failing to detect when states failed to mail ballots weeks late, disenfranchised soldiers can thank Eric Holder for late or uncounted ballots. Whatever actions DOJ took in 2010 to protect military voters only came after Senator Cornyn and the media were breathing down Holder’s neck. And even those efforts came late in the game.
My sources tell me that the responsible officials inside DOJ think the criticism from the public and from Congress is unfair. In other words, they believe their own spin. The bureaucrats actually believe that because they were making phone calls, instead of litigating in court, they were “aggressively enforcing” the law. They think waiting until October 22 to file a lawsuit in Illinois — even though the media, including PJM, broke the story on October 7 that ballots weren’t mailing — constitutes aggressive enforcement. They were working hard, talking on the phone, and debating internally, they claim.
Worst of all, bureaucrats inside DOJ expressly crafted DOJ litigation decisions with open contempt for congressional mandates. Congress declared that ballots must go out 45 days before the election. I have learned through multiple sources with direct knowledge that DOJ bureaucrats responsible for military voting explicitly argued repeatedly that the law could be satisfied by giving overseas ballots a total of 45 days, even if they were mailed weeks after the deadline. In other words, they had the power to disregard the explicit command of Congress, so they did. This is the smoking gun that Congress can reveal in hearings next year.
Why would they treat the law with such contempt?
Firstly, they disagree with the law. If Congress were to put particular DOJ managers under oath, they would find they have been wedded to a “30 days is enough time” fable forever. They didn’t like being rebuked by the MOVE Act’s expansion to 45 days.
Secondly, these same DOJ officials are terrified of litigation. Instead of aggressively defending the soldier’s right to vote, they aggressively defend their safe, quiet, unnoticed nook where they never have to risk losing an argument in court. They are more afraid of losing an argument than of a soldier in Afghanistan losing their right to vote.
Thirdly, they believe in 80 percent solutions for voters who give 100 percent, and sometimes more. Congress may hear from former DOJ employees who tell me they would testify that the DOJ bureaucrat in charge of military voting spoke repeatedly of half-solutions. The bureaucrat explicitly believed that some military voters could be disenfranchised, but as long as “most” had a “reasonable” chance to participate, DOJ washed their hands of it.
These bureaucrats can stick fingers in their ears and hum all they want, but here are the inescapable facts: Congress is going to get to the bottom of the mess of 2010. Cold hard data are going to be available about whether or not soldiers were disenfranchised by the inaction of DOJ. The story of the military voting mess did not end with the November 2 election.
Incoming subcommittee chairs like Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina are the right people to get to the bottom of it all. Nobody cares more about men and women in uniform than Joe Wilson. This seasoned lawyer knows how to detect and cut through administration spin — he is a “lie” detector second to none. But most of all, as an Army vet, he knows what it means to serve, and his son Alan is also a lawyer and Iraq combat vet. Wilson is the right person to ensure the military voting mess of 2010 does not repeat in 2012.
Of course, Senator John Cornyn has also experienced DOJ spin all year long. He has seen his requests rebuffed, over and over, for basic information from DOJ such as which states were in compliance with the MOVE Act and which were not. The reason DOJ never told him is that they didn’t know themselves. Cornyn has blocked the deputy attorney general nominee, and his hold should stay in place contingent on DOJ cooperation with congressional oversight.
Naturally, members of the House Judiciary Committee will be well-armed for Justice oversight hearings, and have experienced firsthand Eric Holder’s stonewalling.
The Election Assistance Commission will be gathering data on how many ballots were mailed and what the successful return rates were. Private groups such as the Military Voter Protection Project, run by former DOJ lawyer Eric Eversole, are going to data mine the effectiveness of DOJ enforcement activity by examining actual ballot return patterns.
Simply, DOJ will endure congressional and private sector scrutiny on their effectiveness like they never have before. No amount of slick spin will be able to gloss over the raw numbers. Empty rhetoric is not as trendy as it was in 2008.
Eric Holder needs to be arrested, tried for treason and brought to justice.
Anyone who was involved in blocking our troops from voting should be prosecuted for every possible charge imaginable, including treason.
The same should happen to ayone enabling a non-citizen to vote.
There should be a THOROUGH invistigation of all this. The American people should demand it.
Every U.S. citizen's vote is important, but the votes of those on active duty in the armed forces should be give special sanctuary, deference, and protection!
In this case, soldiers put their life on the line to protect our right to vote.
Those who interfere with it should be arrested, tried for treason, lined up against the wall and shot.
The BIGGEST PROBLEM affecting our nation is the JUSTICE SYSTEM.
When the lawmakers and judges are all criminals, there is no JUSTICE.
Holder, and a bunch of RAT Secretaries of State, need to go to jail for a long, long time.
And that’s just for starters.
Anyone who violates the legal voting process or interferes with it should have all their assets taken, their citizenship revoked, and kicked off American soil.
My son was on active duty in Afghanistan during the last election, and I asked him if he voted.
He said “Dad, yes we can vote, but they do everything possible to discourage it. They make it so hard, that it’s just not worth it. Besides, they had me way too busy (to vote).”
Seems to me they should be doing everything possible to encourage the military vote, NOT making it near impossible.
Heads need to roll.
But make no mistake: there is no rock bottom for this scum.
Just when you think these people could not possible sink any lower--they manage to sink even further into the sewer.
These people deserve NO RESPECT WHATSOEVER. They are THE LOWEST OF THE LOW--THE SCUMMIEST OF THE SCUM--THE MOST ODIOUS OF THE ODIOUS.
Since we have had VOTING for over 200 years, and had to deal with military ballots that ENTIRE TIME, it should have been PERFECTED by now.
The only reason it isn't, is because our corrupt officials don't want it to be.
Primary Logic Error: assuming facts not in evidence. We have a LEGAL SYSTEM - that is an entirely different animal from a JUSTICE SYSTEM. The system is designed to achieve the proper administration of legal processes. Sometimes that results in justice, sometimes it doesn't.
Big time! Everyone should review his rap sheet - slipping pardons into Clinton’s stack of pardons for domestic terrorists, his work under Janet Reno, his work for a lawfirm that specalized in pro bono defense of terrorists - including Gito detainees...
All my children--I am delighted to say--are Conservative Republicans.
I do have family members and friends who are Democrats;
However--whenever anyone says "I'm a Democrat" or "I'm 'A Liberal'"--I find myself thinking: "You are either stupid or malicious" and condescension--if not downright contempt--is getting harder and harder to avoid.
Actually, those who deny soldiers the right to exercise their vote should, once convicted, be shot or hanged within 1 month of conviction.
Justice delayed is justice denied.
My son, a Navy Captain {he has submitted his plans for retirement after 24 years}, is stationed at the Pentagon.
He took Tuesday, Nov 2, off, and drove home to PA to vote, because he wanted his vote to count and he knew that most of the time the military absentee vote doesn't get counted.
What a #^%$ shame.
The folks that defend our freedom get screwed by our own government.
It’s really stunning how we treat our service men and women who are on the point of the spear, compared to how our self anointed congress critters treat themselves.
They keep pushing, and the anger keeps growing. At some point, there WILL be push back.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.