Posted on 09/30/2012 7:46:37 PM PDT by Bigtigermike
FREDERICKSBURG — A 92 percent drop in absentee-ballot requests by military personnel in Virginia is raising concerns that the Pentagon is failing to carry out a federal voting law.
With only 1,746 military voters in Virginia requesting absentee ballots so far this year — out of 126,251 service members in the state —the Military Voter Protection Project says the system has broken down
And it’s not just in the Old Dominion. MVPP Executive Director Eric Eversole reports significant declines in absentee-ballot requests by service members across the nation.
(Excerpt) Read more at mvpproject.org ...
“And where are the Joint Chiefs who should be looking out for the military rights to vote?? Where is the military leadership?”
Gen. Dempsey? Yeah right.
Most of the top higher ups know they would be replaced if Romney was elected by reasons inconsistent with their ideology. O put them there and has them in his pocket. Case in point, look at some of Panetta’s and Gen. Dempsey’s comments and actions since they’ve been appointed.
The so called “leadership” you ask of are nothing more than politicians in uniform who are only looking for the next star or next position and will defend the CIC’s status quo, including resisting military voter reforms if so requested, to get it.
You’ll never get full cooperation from the DOD on this for that very reason. They know full well that the military votes Republican for the most part and they will stall anything that could potentially offset their “military careers”.
Highly shameful, indeed. But that is the truth, unfortunately.
President for life may not be far off..
“PaPa doc” Obama could be conniving as we speak..
Actually judging by the past...... he is..
The difference between the inventor of Romney-care and the inventor of Obama-care as President may not be so different..
Pam Mitchell, FVAP’s acting director, acknowledged findings in a recent DOD Inspector General report that indicated difficulties service members had in reaching voting offices at military installations.
“Over the last six months, we spent a lot of time reaching “Over the last six months, we spent a lot of time reaching out to every single one of the 221 installation voting offices,” Mitchell said. “We now believe that voting assistance for our absentee voters is absolutely the best that it’s ever been.”out to every single one of the 221 installation voting offices,” Mitchell said. “We now believe that voting assistance for our absentee voters is absolutely the best that it’s ever been.”
bttt
Patchy paste problem, persistence pays.
Patchy paste problem, persistence pays.
See “ROB THE VOTE! - Obama’s secret strategy for staying in power” - http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2914053/posts
Also keyword: “robthevote” for some good articles on how Obama plans to steal the election.
DoD: Half Of US Military Bases Lack Required Voter Assistance Offices
A new report by the Department of Defense inspector general reveals that approximately half of U.S. military bases lack legally required facilities designed to assist service members through the voting process.
According to the 2009 Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act, all military installations throughout the world, with the exception of those located in warzones, must operate a voter assistance office to provide troops with access to voter registration and absentee ballot materials. While the law said the installation voting assistance offices (IVAOs) would open in 2010, an investigation by the DoD found that only 114 of the 229 IVAOs listed by the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) were operational.
“To assess effectiveness of DoD efforts to establish IVAOs, we attempted to contact 100 percent of the installations identified by the FVAP website,” reads the report, which was published in late August. “Results were clear. Our attempts to contact IVAOs failed about 50 percent of the time.”
While FVAP director Pam Mitchell blamed the communication gap on outdated contact information during a press conference Tuesday, the report cites a lack of funding as the primary reason why many of the facilities have yet to be established, emphasizing that the MOVE Act did not provide additional appropriations to cover the estimated $20 million it would take to launch and sustain the IVAO initiative. However, Eric Eversole, founder and executive director of the Military Voter Protection Project, rejects this explanation.
“The claim is laughable,” said Eversole. “In fiscal years 2011 and 2012, FVAP received a combined $75 million in federal appropriations. To put this into perspective, they received $17.4 million for fiscal year 2010.”
Eversole says that rather than use the funds to install the voter assistance facilities, which are mandatory under the MOVE Act, FVAP has funneled at least $25 million over the past two fiscal years into developing technology pilot programs that were suggested as optional enterprises within the law. While Eversole says these new programs do not offer service members with much more than what was previously available to them, the report overwhelmingly supports further development of technological outreach.
“[DoD officials] noted that younger military personnel were the biggest DoD military population segment and emphasized that IVAOs were likely not the most cost effective way to reach out to them given their familiarity and general preference for communicating via on-line social media and obtaining information from internet websites,” reads the report. “Moreover, FVAP officials indicated that investing in intuitive, easy-to-use web-based tools, rather than IVAOs—could substantially reduce cost and improve voting assistance.”
While Eversole believes social media can be a useful tool for military voters, he maintains that it “definitely does not replace the in-person services available to civilians.”
The House Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing on the voting assistance program for military personnel on September 13. With November quickly approaching, Eversole says the hearing should focus on ensuring that service members will be able have their voices heard on Election Day.
“The hearing should not be about making excuses or averting attention from the bigger picture,” said Eversole. “It should be about making sure men and women in uniform are able to get registered and can cast absentee ballots, making that the priority.”
“I’m hoping the Military family of soldiers over seas will stand in proxy for their loved ones and make a statement by VOTING in their place along with their own self vote!!”
I think I could do that in good conscience, if the military vote is being so radically suppressed. I don’t think I’d be promoting an unfair election, but rather promoting a fair one.
This issue needs to come up in the first debate, it’s Federal Law and the Obama administration is doing everything to suppress the military vote. Ads should run on this in all battleground states.
This issue needs to come up in the first debate, it’s Federal Law and the Obama administration is doing everything to suppress the military vote. Ads should run on this in all battleground states.
I would hope this debacle would be brought up during the debate.
By Romney? I’m not going to hold my breath.
On Fox News, they are saying that it is personal responsibility. I was in the military 24 years and always received an absentee ballot when necessary. The military does have to give awareness of absentee ballots, but it is up to the person to request it. I know the military can’t force people to request a ballot that is for sure.
Where is the military leadership?
Caddying for their “leader” perhaps.
Thanks. I’m passing this info on — and hope you hear from more people.
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