Joins Bipartisan Group in Sending Letter to the President

 

 

Senator John Ensign joined a bipartisan group in sending a letter to the President today (April 21, 2008) calling for immediate action toward improving military absentee voting.  In 2006, 20 percent of the votes cast by our active-duty men and women were not even counted.

 

“This is simply unacceptable,” said Ensign.  “Despite numerous attempts by Congress to improve the system, we have not made enough progress.  Our soldiers, Marines, sailors and airmen still face burdensome and unnecessary hurdles when attempting to vote.  It is time to ensure that our men and women in uniform are provided this fundamental right, and I’m hopeful that the President will take action.”

 

Included below is the text of the letter signed by 18 senators, including Ensign, Wayne Allard, John Kerry, Barack Obama, David Vitter, Jon Kyl, Charles Schumer, Pat Roberts, Daniel Akaka, Bernard Sanders, Mel Martinez, John McCain, Jon Tester, Tom Coburn, Larry Craig, Diane Feinstein, Ken Salazar, and Thad Cochran.

 

 

April 21, 2008

 

President George W. Bush

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, DC  20500

 

Dear President Bush

 

The November election is quickly approaching, and we are concerned that our military service members are still faced with an ineffective process and unnecessary hurdles when attempting to exercise their right to vote. 

 

Military absentee voting gained attention in the 2000 Presidential election, and continued to face problems in the 2002, 2004, and 2006 elections.  Despite numerous attempts by Congress, there has been little change in the past eight years to try to correct these inefficiencies.  As we did over sixty years ago during World War II, the voting process still depends on a single soldier in the field reading a 400 page guide, trying to direct each individual in his unit how to vote under their specific precinct guidelines.  If a soldier is able to complete this step in the process, the mail system must still track down a moving target in order to get the ballot to him.  Warfighting and technology have come a long way since World War II, and it is unconscionable that our voting capabilities have failed to keep up. 

 

In recent years, there have been several voting pilot programs that would allow the soldier to request, receive, download, and print their absentee ballots no matter where they are deployed.  These were effective programs and would remove most, if not all major hurdles currently facing our men and women in uniform who would like to exercise their right to vote.

 

Despite these attempted advancements, none have been put into place.  Our military men and women remain disenfranchised.  In 2006, active duty military voted at a rate of 42% lower than the general population.  A reported 47% of servicemembers who wanted to vote never got the chance to do so.  This amounts to over 110,000 of our nation’s bravest and most patriotic men and women who were denied the right to vote.  Of those who were able to cast a vote, 20% of them were not even counted. 

 

This is simply unacceptable.  These men and women risk their lives for democracy and voting rights all over the world.  It is time that the United States ensures their right to vote.  We ask you to take immediate action to improve this process.