Barriers to voting remain for troops deployed abroad

[trof]

By Jim Drinkard, USA TODAY

Problems with military absentee ballots that clouded the 2000 election have not been fixed, jeopardizing the ability of more than 160,000 troops fighting in Iraq (news - web sites) and Afghanistan (news - web sites) to have their votes counted this fall.

• The Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress formerly known as the General Accounting Office (news - web sites), found that the system used to collect and deliver mail in Iraq, including absentee ballots, suffers from long delays and other problems.


• The Pentagon's inspector general found that a Defense Department program to ease voting by Americans overseas, including deployed troops, continues to be given low priority by field commanders. Surprise visits to 10 foreign sites found seven programs ineffective and three only partially effective. Nearly three of every five troops surveyed said they did not know their voting assistance officer.


• A Pentagon agency charged with helping servicemembers and other Americans abroad vote is more than two months late in providing information for a report by the Election Assistance Commission on how states are doing and how they can improve. "I would like to have seen it out much earlier," says Paul DeGregorio, a member of the commission, which was created to help solve voting problems.

Studies show that military families are more likely to vote, and more likely to support Republicans, than others. But this year, military experts say long deployments, low morale and some disaffection with President Bush (news - web sites)'s foreign-policy decisions may erode the GOP's edge. Any problems with military voting could have the greatest impact on battleground states such as Florida, Missouri and New Mexico, which have large military populations.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=676&ncid=716&e=22&u=/usatoday/20040713/ts_usatoday/barrierstovotingremainfortroopsdeployedabroad

[Beetwasher]

1. Yup, They're Not Going To Vote For Bush

so their votes won't count...

[Walt Starr]

2. Now we know how Dumbass*'s handlers are handling the problem

of losing the military vote.

They've thought out all the angles on stealing this election.

[SoCalDem]

3. Why not just put them in a room, with paper bags on their heads

Kerry supporters on one side..Bush on the other... take a digital pic...and just count heads :)

[Az_lefty]

4. No way these Soldiers are voting for bush*, and he knows it!

So, they don't get to vote. The shrub* was chiding Kerry
yesterday about standing with the troops, so is this how
bush* does it?.....yes! Kerry needs to jump all over this issue,
it's one people will understand.

[GoldenOldie]

5. Military Mail Contractor's

Funny thing happened in the way to the war! Halliburton has control of our troops receiving and sending mail. How very convenient that Cheney's corporation will handle the absentee ballots ???

[LiberalFighter]

6. What procedure will Halliburton use to process the ballots?

Scan them to determine how they are voting and then 86 those that are not for gw*?

[SoCalDem]

7. Military "ballot box"..for Kerry votes