Soldiers put their lives on the line, but government fails on military vote initiative
Tuesday, October 2, 2012 at 11:32AM President Barack Obama unleashed his Justice Dept. headed by scandal-plagued Eric Holder, but the goal wasn’t to protect the military vote. Rather, Obama went after states who want a voter to present a photo ID.
Considering the War on Terror, you’d think Obama would want to make sure members of the military were able to cast a vote.
Government officials claim there’s been a good effort to assist, but facts suggest the opposite.
One official touted online access. Apparently that official thinks soldiers in the field in the Middle East have convenient access to the Internet.
The Dept. of Defense was supposed to set up voting assistance centers on most military installations. DoD didn’t meet the 2010 deadline for that. The Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE) was passed in 2009.
The Military Voter Protection Project said:
The Military Voter Protection Project (MVPP) said it saw a 92% drop in absentee-ballot requests by service members in the state of Virginia; compared to 2008.
Other swing states including Florida, North Carolina, Illinois, Ohio, Alaska, and Nevada have also seen a decline of more than 50% in requests.
Those drops in swing states are a bit much to accept, considering the fact the military vote usually leans Republican.
You’d think a president who claims to care about the troops would be behind this. Obama’s aggressive campaign schedule has had him preoccupied of late, with “eye candy” appearances on entertainment shows like The View.
In 2011 The Army Times noted:
About one-third of overseas troops who wanted to vote in 2010 couldn’t, according to testimony at a House hearing Tuesday.
The MVP expects the military vote to be at a record low for 2012.
(Commentary by Kay B. Day/Oct. 2, 2012)