Whats The Hold Up With Our Troops Votes?

LaurieJim

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i saw something on the news this morning about our troops not being able to get their ballots in time to vote, couldnt find anything on msn home page, anyone know whats up with this? we should make sure they are among the first to vote as they are putting themselves in harms way to give us the freedom to vote................laurie
 
This happened last election as well. There were thousands of lost votes from troops, remember that?

Your right, they should be first to vote
 
This happened last election as well. There were thousands of lost votes from troops, remember that?

Your right, they should be first to vote
thanks babs for remembering, this just pisses me the hell off, with all the media reporting on what we have already heard time after time, why isnt this getting more attention, i imagine there are alot of mothers, wives and ex- vets that should be as highly upset as i that are on this forum........c/m included..............laurie
 
You know, it's pretty simple. The Gov't knows the troops will be there, so they should be sending out absentee ballots the day they know who's running for what office. It's not rocket science. Hell, send a million of them. That way there's no excuses for anything.
 
I haven't heard much about this in the news recently, do you know if they got this matter straightened out ??

Rob, I heard an update yesterday. McCain had filed suit concerning the ballots for the troops and made the case the ballots weren't even printed at the time they were supposed to be sent; therefore, voting on time wouldn't have been possible. The judge gave the order that all ballots from the troops should be held until his next decision on Nov. 10.
 
Rob, I heard an update yesterday. McCain had filed suit concerning the ballots for the troops and made the case the ballots weren't even printed at the time they were supposed to be sent; therefore, voting on time wouldn't have been possible. The judge gave the order that all ballots from the troops should be held until his next decision on Nov. 10.

Surely he's not going to withdraw his concession? I can see where their votes would come into play for senate and congress races, but definitely not the presidency.
 
Surely he's not going to withdraw his concession? I can see where their votes would come into play for senate and congress races, but definitely not the presidency.

I've heard nothing of the sort or anything that even hints at something like that. McCain wants the ballots of the troops to be included as is their right. If their votes are cast aside, what a sham that would be. They're Americans who had a right to vote . Just because somebody dragged their feet and didn't send the ballots in time for them to be voted on and tallied, doesn't negate their right to a vote. With the electoral votes solidly on the side of Obama, there's no way that would be impacted.
 
Here's the best article I found that explains the issue better than me . Make of it what you will. :>)


McCain Lawsuit Seeks Extension of Deadline for Troops Votes
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
By Kevin Mooney and Matt Cover


Republican presidential candidate John McCain greets supporters, Nov. 4, 2008 (AP Photo). (Update: Federal Judge Richard Williams has ordered Virginia elections officials to keep military absentee ballots until Nov. 10, when he will hear the full case.)

(CNSNews.com) Sen. John McCains (R-Ariz.) presidential campaign filed suit against Virginias electoral board Monday to allow absentee ballots cast by members of the U.S. military to be counted until Nov. 14. The lawsuit claimed that eight localities mailed the ballots late, causing them to be returned after Election Day, Nov. 4.

Filed in federal court in Richmond, the lawsuit claims that the counties of Arlington, Chesapeake, Chesterfield, Faquier, Loudon, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach, along with the City of Richmond, all failed to mail absentee ballots to members of the military deployed outside of Virginia 45 days prior to the election, as required under federal law.

The McCain campaign said that because the localities in question failed to comply with federal law, some absentee ballots will not be received by the Nov. 4 deadline and therefore will not be counted.

The government screwed up, said Gerry Scimeca, communications director for the Republican Party of Virginia. A handful of localities sent them out 10 days late, so were asking the court to extend the deadline 10 days in order to receive them.

Federal law requires absentee ballots to be mailed 45 days prior to the election to give soldiers and others ample time to consider their choice, fill out the ballots and return them by election day.

Scimeca said that when the localities failed to do so, they violated the civil rights of service members by effectively denying them the right to vote.

The reasonable time is 45 days, (so) because they (the soldiers) are depending upon the government to get their ballots in a timely manner, and they didnt, they will be denied the right to vote if this isnt remedied, said Scimeca. Thats why we think their civil rights have been denied.

Not Just Virginia

Problems with absentee ballots for service members is apparently not isolated to Virginia. CNSNews.com has learned of other cases where military personnel went to lengths to try to vote absentee but did not receive their ballots.

Some U.S. soldiers who support McCain have not received their absentee ballots as of election time despite meeting the application requirements in time, according to two U.S. soldiers and one civilian contractor who spoke with CNSNews.com.

Although he applied in person and followed up with phone calls to local officials in his hometown of Carmel, Indiana, U.S. Army Pfc. Stephen Aichele said he will not have the opportunity to vote and that he is not alone.

Aichele called into the Mike Church Show, a conservative radio program, on Nov. 3 to express his consternation with the absentee ballot process. This opened the way for other U.S. military personnel to call in with similar reports.

I never received my ballot, said Aichele. I went down in person to apply, even called to confirm that it had been sent, and Im told it was. But it never came my way.

As an alternative, Aichele attempted to register in North Carolina, a crucial swing state in this years election, where he is stationed with the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg.

At Fort Knox in Kentucky there apparently have been similar problems with the mailing system, U.S. Army Pfc. Tarynn Aichele told CNSNews.com. Stephen and Tarynn Aichele are husband and wife.

A lot of the absentee ballots are being sent back because something is wrong with the address, she said. There are a lot of us who are having this problem.

U.S. soldiers stationed overseas in Iraq have had their own set of problems with absentee ballots, according to a civilian contractor stationed at Camp Delta, which is located in the southern part of the country near the border of Iran.

Curtis Bryan Albrecht, is registered to vote in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and has his mail on a permanent forward to Cheyennes main post office, he explained in an e-mail message to CNSNews.com. Even if that wasnt sufficient to get my absentee ballot forwarded to me, I updated my mailing address with the Clerk of Courts nearly three months ago.

Ive heard many complaints about people not receiving their absentee ballot, he wrote.
 
Yea, I think it's mostly a thing of principle right now, and Kudos to McCain for doing the right thing. They're over there fighting for our country, and McCain is over here fighting for them. :thumbsup:
 
Yea, I think it's mostly a thing of principle right now, and Kudos to McCain for doing the right thing. They're over there fighting for our country, and McCain is over here fighting for them. :thumbsup:
thanks win, thats what i wanted to know days ago and the press should have been all over this instead of who was spending what on clothes , i would love to see pres. elect obama reach out with sen. mccain and ask" what the hells going on with our troops votes", he is in much greater power now to find out, our current, mr. bush appears to not care about the military folks right to vote and thats just not right:mad:
laurie
 

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