Pentagon Suppressing the Military Vote | Eastern North Carolina Now

    The Obama Justice Department ignored videoed voter intimidation by the New Black Panther party, but has sued the states for daring to suggest using voter IDs. In Florida, Governor Rick Scott revealed over 80,000 dead people and hundreds of felons and non-citizens were listed as registered voters; therefore, there was the potential voter fraud, but the DOJ denied him the use of voter ID. However, in the voter fraud versus voter suppression debate, the biggest suppression of the vote, and the most scandalous, has gone virtually unnoticed.

    The U.S. military stationed overseas have the most difficult time getting absentee ballots and casting their vote than another American group. In some states, like Massachusetts, the welfare department mails out absentee ballots with welfare checks. Yet, young men and women who are putting their very lives on the line representing their country are being denied the basic right of every American citizen to vote in a timely manner. This is unconscionable and utterly shameful.

    According to the Military Voters Protection Project (MVPP), only 20% of the 2.5 million military voters were able to request and return their absentee ballots on time in the 2008 election. In response, in 2009, Congress passed the Military and Overseas Empowerment Act (MOVE). It requires states to mail absentee ballots at least 45 days before an election; use electronic systems; and require express mail for delivery for returning absentee ballots.

    The MOVE ACT passed with just 75 days left before the 2010 election. The results were even worse. Just 5% of military voters returned their ballots on time to be counted. According to the testimony by Thomas Perez, assistant Attorney General for civil rights of the DOJ, one third of overseas troops who wanted to vote couldn't. Most of the ones who did vote arrived too late to be counted.

    The MOVE ACT require that the Pentagon create voting assistance offices on all overseas military bases to help deployed soldiers cast their ballots back to their home states. To help the soldiers vote, each military branch was to create an installation voting assistance office (IVAO) for every military base outside a combat zone. However, the Pentagon's Inspector General reported disappointing results when it tried to locate the IVAOs. They were not available 50% of the time. The Pentagon says the funding is not available, and estimates it would cost $15 million to $20 million a year to create the offices that is required by law. In addition, the Pentagon officials disagree on how to set up the offices. Since Leon Panetta, the Secretary of Defense, is an Obama supporter, we know why the Pentagon is dragging their feet on the voter assistance program. Obama knows that the military tends to vote Republican 65 to 75% of the time, so he wants to deny the military their right to vote. This is a modern version of the Jim Crow law, but in this case it affects blacks and whites alike, but American citizens all.

    It is inexcusable that ballots are sent to the wrong addresses, lost in the mail, or sent too late to be sent back by Election Day. According to MVPP, 15 states, including Alaska, Florida, North Carolina, and Washington, have fully implemented the MOVE ACT. California, Illinois, New York, and Wisconsin are doing the worst job in complying with the MOVE ACT. In California, 11 of 58 counties failed to comply with the law, so ballots were mailed too late to be counted in the June 5th election.

    There is a Federal Voting Assistance Program with a website (fvap.gov) dedicated to helping military members and their families to vote.

    If you have loved ones and friends in the military, please make sure they get their ballots and vote. They have more than earned that right.