Disenfranchising Our Military: Shameful Behavior of Virginia Board of Elections
Hans von Spakovsky /
The liberal political establishment is always expressing its concern over the possible “disenfranchisement” of voters (claims that almost always turn out to be completely exaggerated), but their concerns seem to disappear when the disenfranchised are military voters. How else can one explain the almost total lack of interest expressed over the pending disenfranchisement of possibly thousands of overseas voters in Virginia, mostly military personnel?
Just prior to the Nov. 4 election, the McCain-Palin campaign filed a federal lawsuit in Richmond against the Virginia State Board of Elections under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act. UOCAVA guarantees the right of military personnel and overseas civilians to vote by absentee ballots in federal elections. The lawsuit claimed that some Virginia counties had mailed absentee ballots too late to be received and returned by military personnel stationed overseas by the Nov. 4 deadline. One of the examples given was a U.S. marine stationed in Western Anbar Province who requested an absentee ballot in August, but did not receive it until October 29. This was far too late to mail it back by the Nov. 4 deadline for receipt by Virginia election officials. The lawsuit requested the federal court to order Virginia to accept as valid all overseas absentee ballots postmarked by Nov. 4 and received by Nov. 14.
Unfortunately, on Nov. 4 the court inexplicably refused to enforce UOCAVA and would not grant any such remedy. It only ordered election officials to record the date and time of receipt of all absentee ballots received after Nov. 4 and to store them in sealable container until further order of the court.
On Nov. 17, the McCain-Palin campaign was dismissed as a party and the U.S. Department of Justice, which enforces UOCAVA, was allowed to intervene in the lawsuit. DOJ claimed in its motion that some counties had waited until less than two weeks before Nov. 4 to mail out the requested absentee ballots. Thirty days is the absolute minimum time before the election that postal authorities and other experts recommend that such absentee ballots be mailed to overseas voters, particularly military personnel, because of the long delays in overseas mail service. Forty-five days is what is actually recommended, including by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. (more…)