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Still disenfranchised over there
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During every election cycle, there are predictable accusations about "voter suppression" or "voter fraud," depending on which side of the aisle you're on. Republicans complain about groups like ACORN that have been responsible for signing up thousands of illegal voters, who (typically) support liberal candidates. Meanwhile, Democrats gripe about GOP efforts to pass voter identity laws, and generic attempts at "suppressing" poor and minority voters.
Predictably, little is done to resolve these issues during the off years, guaranteeing a repeat when the next election rolls around. A few wags have suggested that neither party has any real interest in fixing these problems, because real reform would take away their excuse for losing an election, or mounting legal challenges against the results of future balloting.
Unfortunately, the problem of voter disenfranchisement and suppression is very real, and (sadly) virtually nothing has been done to end these practices. But the voters most are likely to have their ballots discarded or rejected outright don't live in the inner city. In fact, many hail from rural areas and as a group, they are overwhelmingly white and middle class. But, by one estimate, at least 28% of the ballots from this group were rejected during the 2008 Presidential election. That total represented thousands of votes, and it was significantly higher than the rejection rate reported eight years earlier.
So, who are these Americans whose votes are less likely to count? If you guessed U.S. military personnel (and their dependents), give yourself a gold star and keep reading. Fact is, members of the armed forces routinely have their ballots rejected, and precious little has been done to guarantee the franchise for those who wear the nation's uniform.
The latest, depressing data on military absentee voting was released last week, in a study conducted by the Congressional Research Service. Analyzing data from the seven states with the largest number of residents in the armed forces (Texas, California, Florida, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Washington), the CRS found that at least one in five military absentee ballots from those states were never collected, or never counted.
New York Senator Charles Schumer, who requested the study, expressed dismay over its results. Mr. Schumer seemed perpelxed by the growing number of rejected military ballots, despite what he described as a "massive effort" to improve absentee voting procedures.
That comment left us scratching our heads, because Senator Schumer hasn't been much of a leader on the military voting issue. Indeed, Mr. Schumer was conspiciously absent when Congressional Republicans offered a pair of resolutions last year, aimed at making more military votes count.
Noting that many deployed personnel have their votes rejected because they arrive after election deadlines, California Representative Kevin McCarthy introduced a simple measure, calling on the Defense Department to transport absentee ballots by air mail, rather than general delivery. McCarthy's plan was expected to reduce delivery times from 3-4 weeks to a matter of days, meaning that most military absentee ballots would arrive in time to be counted. But the proposal died in committee and Senator Schumer offered no similar legislation in the Senate.
Schumer and his Democratic colleagues also decided against supporting another House measure, this one from Missouri Republican Roy Blunt. The bill sponsored by Mr. Blunt (and more than two dozen GOP law makers) was even more basic; it simply asked Pentagon leaders to "do more" in helping military personnel cast absentee ballots. But once again, the proposal died a quick committee death, due to a lack of Democratic support.
So, for all his concern about the military voting problem, Senator Schumer has done virtually nothing to fix the problem. Not that we're surprised. Military personnel are a reliably Republican voting block, and Democrats aren't exactly keen on the notion of counting hundreds of thousands of additional GOP ballots--particularly when those votes could swing a close election.
But, on the other hand, Democrats can't be seen as "actively" suppressing the armed forces vote, although lawyers for Al Gore specfically targeted military absentee ballots in the 2000 Florida recount. By requesting the CRS study, Mr. Schumer can claim that the problem is being analyzed, while efforts at fixing the problem wither on the legislative vine. From a politicla standpoint, it's even better than a blue ribbon commission. After all, no one really follows up on a CRS study, and there won't be any demand for action--at least, not from anyone who matters politically to Chuck Schumer.
And, in fairness, the GOP deserves some of the blame for the military voting problem. Despite support among the armed forces for their party's candidates, Republicans did little to address the problem during their time in power. At one point, DoD was developing an on-line voting system for military personnel, but that project was scrapped due to security concerns, and the GOP never pressured the Pentagon to come up with something better.
Meanwhile, the state of Arizona has found a viable solution, one that was used successfully last fall. The Secretary of State Jan Brewer developed a secure, on-line voting system that allowed Arizona residents living overseas to cast their ballots via the internet. The Arizona system uses state-of-the-art encryption technology, similar to that found in on-line credit card transactions. As a result, thousands of Arizonans were able to vote in last year's election.
It's an approach that can be easily standardized among the states and rapidly implemented, allowing most (if not all) deployed military presonnel to vote on-line by next year's mid-term election. But don't expect a sudden groundswell for taking the Arizona system nation-wide. Here's the dirty little secret about military voting. All the pols talk a good game, but the Democrats like a system that rejects 70% of the ballots from a group that is heavily Republican. As for the GOP, they took the military vote for granted between 1994 and 2006. Now that they really need those voters, Republicans are in no position to improve absentee voting procedures for members of the armed services.
The real losers, of course, are the men and women who fight (and sometimes give their lives) in securing our right to vote. Knowing that two-thirds of their votes will be rejected is worse than a scandal. It's a national disgrace.
Back to you, Mr. Schumer.
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