Protecting The Franchise Abroad While Being Precluded At Home

By Jonathan Bronstein, Talk Radio News Service

Fighting to spread democratic ideals and ensuring the right to vote abroad are two of the most important missions that the American military partakes in. But while the military performs this task abroad, members are unable to vote because of institutional barriers, like the time it takes for ballot to arrive in the mail.

“Up to 27 percent of ballots requested by military and oversees voters were not counted,” said Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), Chairman of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, who continued to say, “Those are just the voters that were able to get their requests for ballots answered.”

An even more sobering statistic was that 63.1 percent of military votes arrived late, which was a 14 percent increase since the 2004 election. “The problem is not getting better, it is getting worse,” said Schumer.

Pat Hollarn, the Acting Under Secretary for Personnel Defense and Readiness at the Department of Defense, believes that the institutional barriers take three forms.

Firstly, the barrier of time, as it takes too long to get information from America, through the mail system, to the individual abroad, said Hollarn.

Secondly, the barrier of distance, as the mail can be sent, but the individual may be far away from a base. People who serve on submarines or special operations units that do not return to military bases for long periods of time experience this problem, Hollarn said.

Thirdly, the barrier of mobility, as soldiers located in one site may be re-deployed quickly before the ballot can arrive.

As a result, Hollarn encourages states to allow soldiers to “allow electronic transmission options for registering to vote, requesting a ballot, and returning a ballot.” She believes that using electronic options would break the institutions that bar soldiers from voting, and therefore would be able to have their voices heard.

Additionally, Hollarn wants states to unify their rules so that all soldiers from all states would be able to follow the same procedures, instead of the current situation, in which all states have disparate rules.

For example, the study of voters abroad from the 2008 election shows the difference in rules, as California sent out 102,983 ballots and had 65,836 votes cast, or 63 percent. By contrast, West Virginia sent out 4,194 ballots and had 1,554 votes cast, or only 37 percent.

The problem with under representation of military voters has plagued America since the Truman Administration. While no legislation has been enacted to solve the problem, all the speakers remained hopeful that change would come, and that America would live up to its democracy, and all peoples voices would be heard.