Senators Seek Smoother Military VotingBy Mary Clare Jalonick
Published March 22nd 2006 in Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Twelve senators are asking Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to make it easier for troops abroad to vote, saying the current system is outdated.
Seven Republicans and five Democrats wrote to Rumsfeld this month, asking the department to create a new voting system that would allow members of the military to easily "request, receive, download and print" absentee ballots regardless of their location.
Under the current system, members of the military must contact local officials by regular mail and request a ballot, which is then mailed to them. The voter then must fill out the ballot by hand and send it back to his or her state, again by regular mail.
"Military absentee voting is still conducted in the same way it was conducted during World War II and the Korean War," the senators wrote.
A Pentagon spokeswoman would not comment on the letter, saying it is Pentagon policy not to comment on correspondence between the secretary and members of Congress.
Samuel Wright of the National Defense Committee, a group that advocates for electing more veterans to Congress, said he has counted 7,838 different state and local election offices that administer federal elections and communicate with troops overseas.
Wright said it would be ideal if military abroad could receive ballots by e-mail, fill them out and send them to their local election offices by regular mail.
"The military voter is a moving target," said Wright. "The current system requires that they have to find the voter."
Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., prepared the letter and is planning legislation that would make the process easier. He said Tuesday the current process is unacceptable.
Also signing the letter were Republicans Christopher Bond of Missouri, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, James Inhofe of Oklahoma, Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, Olympia Snowe of Maine and Wayne Allard of Colorado. Democrats signing the letter were Max Baucus of Montana, Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, Richard Durbin of Illinois and Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka of Hawaii.
Election Day '09 was a roller-coaster for election reformers. Instant runoff voting had a great night in Minnesota, where St. Paul voters chose to implement IRV for its city elections, and Minneapolis voters used IRV for the first time—with local media touting it as a big success. As the Star-Tribune noted in endorsing IRV for St. Paul, Tuesday’s elections give the Twin Cities a chance to show the whole state of Minnesota the benefits of adopting IRV. There were disappointments in Lowell and Pierce County too, but high-profile multi-candidate races in New Jersey and New York keep policymakers focused on ways to reform elections; the Baltimore Sun and Miami Herald were among many newspapers publishing commentary from FairVote board member and former presidential candidate John Anderson on how IRV can mitigate the problems of plurality elections.