Free Republic

Since the Minutemen of Lexington and Concord rallied to the cause of liberty in 1775, the American military has held a unique place of respect and affection in our national ethos. Yet in the Coronavirus relief package recently passed by Congress, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her fellow Democrats tried to include language making it easier to commit voter fraud with the ballots of our military stationed overseas. House Democrat’s proposed additions to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act included changes to election law that would provide cover for individuals and activists yearning for federal protection for voting fraud schemes that...

Report recommends banning fax, email balloting to improve cybersecurityDENVER — After years of accusing states of “voter suppression,” the Center for American Progress wants to make it tougher for overseas military to vote in the name of election security. The left-wing public-policy group issued Monday a report, “Election Security in All 50 States,” that called for stricter standards to prevent cyber-meddling in elections by foreign governments, including banning military stationed abroad from submitting ballots via email or fax. One state that allows such vote-casting is Colorado. The center called on the state to “prohibit voters stationed or living overseas from...

According to Founder and Executive Director of the Military Voter Protection Project Eric Eversole, bureaucracy combined with a long list of excuses inside the Pentagon has resulted in a record number of absentee military ballots not being requested or fulfilled. This election cycle is similar to what happened in 2008 when a record number of absentee ballots were never sent out to military voters or were sent out after the deadline to vote.   In 2008, for example, less than 20 percent of 2.5 million military voters were able to request and return their absentee ballots.  Our report from the...

President Barack Obama, along with many Democrats, likes to say that, while they may disagree with the GOP on many issues related to national security, they absolutely share their admiration and dedication to members of our armed forces. Obama, in particular, enjoys being seen visiting troops and having photos taken with members of our military. So, why is his campaign and the Democrat party suing to restrict their ability to vote in the upcoming election? On July 17th, the Obama for America Campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and the Ohio Democratic Party filed suit in OH to strike down part...

The Obama administration is widely regarded as the most lawless in U.S. history. This much you already know. Not enough votes to pass Obamacare? Bribe senators. Don’t like the Defense of Marriage law? Refuse to defend it in court. Congress won’t pass the “Dream Act” granting amnesty to a million illegals? Do it yourself by executive fiat. Don’t want to defend America’s borders? Sue states that do. Don’t like congressional inquiries? Ignore their subpoenas. Obama’s violations are so blatant and manifold that nine states have joined together to sue the federal government for its rampant lawlessness. So, now comes election...

Time and again, Eric Holder’s Justice Department and its Civil Rights Division has shown how highly partisan it is. From its dismissal of the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case, to its harassment of jurisdictions with voter ID laws, the Division has proven that its far-left liberal ideology determines whether it will enforce (or not enforce) the law. Now it is ignoring the plight of military voters. The Division once again revealed its true colors in several recent cases to enforce the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (Motor Voter). Keep in mind that in 2009, shortly after the...

The Department of Justice has launched a new website to rehabilitate its damaged reputation among uniformed servicemembers. Good luck, because servicemembers have figured out that this administration is not their friend, particularly in protecting their right to vote. It is an effort to put more “lipstick on the military voting pig.” If you serve in the military, don’t waste your time looking for help through the website. The DOJ doesn’t want to hear from you. The website is www.servicemembers.gov. “The Department of Justice, in partnership with other federal agencies, is committed to enforcing the federal laws that protect the...

Today, two very different stories will be heard at a hearing before Congress. Eric Eversole and Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez will both testify about the plight of military voters in the 2010 election and whether or not the Justice Department did all it could to protect them. Perez will exaggerate DOJ efforts to protect military voters, and Eric Eversole will testify truthfully about where DOJ dropped the ball in 2010.In 2010, the Department of Justice was suggesting that states mail overseas ballots to servicemembers that listed federal elections but intentionally omitted state contests. With the approach of the electoral...

Key committees in both the House and Senate are preparing to examine closely what happened with MOVE Act implementation this year at the Department of Justice.  It was announced today that House Administration Committee will be Chaired by Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA).  Lungren is already familiar with various aspects of DOJ enforcement of the federal voting laws.  He is thorough and dismissive of spin.  The Senate Rules Committee will be examining what happened with military voting also. Expect a tag team. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) is on the Rule Committee and is keenly aware of the mess of 2010 MOVE Act implementation,...

Every once in a while, you read something in the news which leaves you seething. We live in a world full of both corruption and stupidity — two things which often seem to work synergistically. A couple of days ago, I came across something which had that unique blend of the two, a news story that was like a freshly-brewed cup of tick-me-off in the morning. The story in question comes out of Illinois, via Andrew Breitbart's Big Government website. Short and to the point, Breitbart's article notes that election officials in The Most Corrupt County in the Most Corrupt...

BREAKING NEWS:  Congratulations to the Military Voter Protection Project.  They have broken new legal ground in protecting military voters.  A Maryland Federal Court ruled today that it is a violation of a soldier's constitutional rights to not receive his complete ballot on time under the MOVE Act.  The court ruled that the John Doe officer stationed in Iraq had standing to sue under the federal law requiring ballots to be sent by a certain date (MOVE Act).  This is huge news which will affect the 2012 elections. This is an enormously important decision.  One thing it means is that military...

The Justice Department on Wednesday vowed to thwart any efforts to intimidate voters at the polls on Tuesday and to ensure that the ballots of military voters are counted, as activists on both sides of the political aisle reignite their regular election-time tango over the dangers of voter fraud versus voter suppression. Facing separate investigations in its handling of a voter-intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party and questions over the failure of absentee ballots to be sent to military personnel and their families by the legally required date, the Justice Department moved to assure voters that they will...

Justice Department disenfranchises military, protects Black PanthersThe Obama Justice Department is doing everything it can to boost Democrats in the upcoming election. It's helping stifle military votes, facilitating criminal voting and encouraging intimidation at the polls by deep-sixing the New Black Panther voter-intimidation case. In an Oct. 15 letter representing the views of Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich tied together the department's mishandling of military voting rights and the Black Panther case. Mr. Weich wrote Rep. Frank Wolf, Virginia Republican, to give assurance that Justice would "not take any action that would be inconsistent...

EXCLUSIVE TO ELECTION LAW CENTER: Election Law Center has learned about some strange things happening in Illinois when it comes to military and overseas ballots. Because of events in Chicago, overseas and military voter ballots will have election judges “recreating” their ballots before they are fed into the tabulating machines. In Illinois, military and overseas voters can ask for either a paper ballot or a ballot sent by email. Ballots sent by email must be reprinted by the voter on the voter’s printer and send back. In most counties the electronic choice is made by about a quarter of voters....

Eric Eversole appeared on Fox News Sunday.  The former DOJ Voting Section lawyer described how his nonprofit, the Military Voter Protection Project was able to detect failure to comply with federal military voting laws when the Department of Justice could not. As a former Voting Section lawyer, Eversole knows firsthand the particular reasons why the Department of Justice has been unable to aggressively enforce military voter protections.  That's why he founded an organization that relies on law students instead of $140,000 a year lawyers to do a better job detecting violations of federal law.  The full video his here. 4:41 minutes

Poor James Cole.  At least he won't have to take a pay cut anytime soon.  Cole doesn't get his DAG job, but what of the people responsible for it? The whirlwind cometh to DOJ regarding the failure to protect military voters in 2010.  The soon to be Chairmen strike. Letter from Congress. One of many zingers:  "What we find most troubling about this situation is that the Department of Justice, which has the sole and exclusive authority to enforce UOCAVA, not only failed to ensure compliance but apparently was not even aware when widespread noncompliance occurred." The letter also states a private...

At least 25 IL counties failed to mail military ballots on time, and I have obtained communications from the past week showing the Justice Department never had a clue. When I reported at PJM that military ballots in New York failed to mail just three weeks before the election, I described it as surreal. Surreal became tragic when considering how badly the DOJ dropped the ball. They failed to do anything about the problem for eight days after learning about it. Now it has gotten much worse. I can report that Illinois has at least 25 counties which failed to...

Election '10: The de facto disenfranchisement of soldiers by an incompetent Board of Elections is a shameful slap in the face of those who are fighting and dying in two wars to protect our right to vote and theirs. There's no excuse for this. None. The failure of the state of New York's Board of Elections to send out absentee ballots to the state's military and overseas voters, even after being granted a federal extension under the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act, is made worse by the fact that New York City on 9/11 was the Pearl Harbor...

Election '10: The Department of Justice is failing to enforce a law that protects the voting rights of soldiers overseas. They're allowed to fight and die for their country, but they can't vote for its leaders? Last Saturday was the deadline under the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE) for states to have sent unmarked absentee ballots to soldiers overseas so they can exercise the same right to vote as those they risk their lives to protect, including Afghans and Iraqis. The MOVE Act, passed with overwhelming bipartisan support last year, says states must provide overseas ballots 45 days...

   Barely three weeks before the election, the Department of Justice has opened "urgent" discussions with New York.  New York has failed to mail ballots to military voters.  This is the latest breakdown in DOJ enforcement of the MOVE Act. The MOVE Act required ballots to mail out on September 18.  New York obtained a waiver allowing the ballots to mail October 1.  But that didn't happen across a sizeable portion of the Empire State - including all of New York City and Westchester County.  On October 2, the failure to comply with the deadline should have been known.  Fox...