Some NC National Guard Troops Got Absentee Ballots Too Late

WFMY-News 2, Greensboro, NC ^ | 10/22/04 | Pete Bowne, Web Producer

[Angry Enough]

Raleigh, NC -- At least half of North Carolina's National Guard troops in Iraq failed to receive their absentee ballots in time for their votes to be counted, according to an officer helping to handle voting.

"I can tell you that from experience because I didn't get mine, either," Lt. Michelle Locke told The News & Observer on Thursday in a telephone interview from a base northeast of Baghdad.

Locke, 30, of Fayetteville said troops who wanted to vote in the November 2 general election received special all-write-in ballots that had been sent by the military in case something went wrong.

Nearly 5,000 Guard troops from North Carolina are serving in Iraq.

[Angry Enough]

Faced with the late ballots, Locke said they changed their focus to help complete the write-in forms. Sometimes, just getting them into soldiers' hands was a problem. In one case, an armed convoy traveled through a dangerous area to take a box of the special ballots to a small unit in a forward operating base near the city of Samarra, Locke said. Very moving to me.

[Gibtx]

this should be on the top of the list of things the dnc did

[Heff]

What irony...the guys that are fighting for freedom for others to vote, don't get to vote. Its such BS!!!!

[Howlin]

There should be HELL TO PAY for this........absolute BURNING hell.

Somebody BETTER be fired!!!!!!!!

[skip_intro]

It's all a question of priorities. What's more important:

1) Making sure as many felons as possible get to vote, or

2) Making sure members of the military get to vote?

The answer's obvious if you're a democrat.

[KoRn]

WRONG WAR. WRONG PLACE. WRONG TIME. WRONG ELECTION it looks like.

[Gibtx]

i bet it works out ...

[1stMarylandRegiment]

Suppose we start by just not HIRING Erskine Bowles - teh we don't have to fire him.

[CWOJackson]

I'm not surprised. I'm getting to the point where I believe this should be actionable under federal law.

[sissyjane]

I'm having a Florida flashback.....

Paging Barry Richard. We're going to need you again.

This makes me LIVID!!!!!

[MOgirl]

Hello,

Too late for what? Regular mail? (I understand they are in a war zone.) I pledge to donate $ to get our troops ballots back by Fed-X, or any other overnight service.

These young Americans are risking their lives, and they can't vote??!! That is wrong, lets try to think of a way to make it right!

Glad to be here, MOgirl

[Angry Enough]

The thing that amazes me, and really humbles me, is that they are going to vote no matter what, if write-in forms have to be driven out into the desert.

[mykdsmom]

NC Ping needed!

[Cicero]

If Karl Rove is so smart, how come he didn't use the past FOUR YEARS to ensure that our military could vote?

I suspect that a lot of these problems are due to foot dragging and obstructionism in the Pentagon bureaucracy by holdovers from the clinton and carter years.

Massive fraud at the polls was predictable. Why wasn't more done to prepare for it?

[Imperialist]

Something smells about the article. I think they'll find a way to count the votes. When does the electoral college vot? 1/20/05? There's time yet, I hope.

[KoRn]

I live in VA and work in NC and have been getting everyone I work with to go againt Bowles, seems not many of them knew he worked for Clinton. After that fact was brought to them it didn't take much convincing ;-)

[Mo1]

there are 16,000 soldiers from PA that most likely will have the same problem because there was a delay in sending them out and the Governor won't extend the deadline

This is an OUTRAGE!

[Gibtx]

yep and someone will be in harms way to get that out .......

pls god help our men......

[Liberty Valance]

If they can't vote...nobody should be able to vote.

[Howlin]

there are 16,000 soldiers from PA that most likely will have the same problem because there was a delay in sending them out and the Governor won't extend the deadline

It's a plan.

It's an absolute outrage is right.