I was once a ‘voting officer’ in the Army. Its an additional duty, assigned to a low ranking officer...something he has to accomplish on top of all of his other duties.
What influences whther or not these additional duties get done? Command influence. If I sense its not really that important, I do a lukewarm job...if I sense my commander really wants it done, and done right - that’s what I do. Its a top down influence...and I suspect it is not considered that important at the very top of the military, right now.
Another thing to keep in mind - 4 years is an eternity in the military. There are ALOT of soldiers in the military today, who weren’t of voting age in 2008...and have never voted before. Nor do they know the ins and outs of absentee voting. So, I can see how it would be easy to ‘supress’ the military vote through neglect.
I was under the impression that we have brought many of these troops home.