Posted on 11/01/2008 8:16:18 PM PDT by george76
Low Return On Absentee Ballots Expected; Some Officers Refuse To Vote To Underscore Political Neutrality.
Soldiers must request by mail an absentee ballot from the local election district where they last lived. Then they are sent a paper ballot to fill out and mail back. Some soldiers said they never got ballots.
The number of absentee military ballots applied for that ultimately get counted is consistently low. In the last federal election, only about 30 percent of overseas military ballots were tallied...
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
“In the last federal election, only about 30 percent of overseas military ballots were tallied...”
The rest of the overseas military personnel were disenfranchised for voting Republican.
The fact that a maggot from the Ass. Press would say something this dumb really offends me. I voted, sometimes absentee, in every election during my time in the military.
This is BS. I have never HEARD of such a thing.
Yes. This could only come from a bunch of dumb asses who have never served in the US Military.
Of all people, military personnel value the right to vote more than the majority of American citizens.
it was considered de rigeur before WWII for officers not to register to vote. Source: Stilwell and the American Experience in China, by Tuchman. I read it years ago and that factoid stuck with me for some reason.
I’m stationed in the CONUS and did not receive my Michigan absentee ballot. Maybe the kids overseas can have mine.
That may be, but as the son of a 30 year Naval Veteran and serving 4 years myself, that was not my experience at all.
Sure, there is always a percentage of people who simply didn’t care, but you get that across all slices of society.
If true, this is outrageous. Military people serving overseas should not even have to provide a written request for an absentee ballot. The federal government already knows whether a person is going to be oversees on election day, so the government is responsible for providing military personel with an absentee ballot without them having to request it. I saw a TV report that said overseas military could vote by internet, so I question the facts of the article. Others here probably know the facts better than this journalist.
Actually, it does happen, usually among the higher ranks. When Gen Petraeus ran CAC at Ft Leavenworth, he was pretty famous for not expressing any political opinion. It goes back at least to Marshall in WWII. Something about not having to take orders from the guy you voted against. I don’t believe in it, but I do understand it.
And this year, I absentee voted just before getting deployed.
Just pure BS by the ASSP, throwin it out there to discount the military vote and the tossin of ballots by “patriotic” dem vote counters.
Ridiculous. Assumes that voting for President is the only thing on the ballot.
This is Major BS. Heavy command emphasis is placed on exercising the vote. Company level units appoint a voter registration officer to assist soldiers in registering and requesting absentee ballots. Officers are expected to set the example, register and vote. In the 1ID at Ft. Riley, division CG closely monitored unit percentages of registered voters.
Some Officers Refuse To Vote To Underscore Political Neutrality?
A lot of colonels and higher refuse to vote on just such grounds - but they encourage their soldiers to vote.
Officers are to be silent regarding actual political involvement -
However, when I was one, the act/right to vote was what I was wearing the uniform to defend.
Some dufus pentagon wonk had better not be telling our officers otherwise.
The military votes were messed with when Gore ran in 2000 really badly. Suppressed in any way on any technicality.
I cannot believe it. It is the duty of a citizen to vote, and while it is entirely and absolutely correct for commissioned officers to refrain from expressing political views, I have never known one not to vote.
It is the mark of a professional to take orders from whoever provides them in the civilian leadership and carry them out to the best of their ability.
That has no bearing whatsoever on the casting of a ballot for the candidate of choice. I have never known an officer who publicly or privately stated they did not vote in order to foster an appearance of neutrality.
Never, ever.
I have no doubt the gorical and shock troops suppressed the military vote in as many ways they could manage.
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