Military and Overseas Voters Are Still Routinely Disenfranchised
by Mr. Anonymous

MY FIRST EXPERIENCE attempting to vote from overseas, in 1996, was a failure. I was in the Navy at the time, and I received my absentee ballot the day before Election Day. It was delivered to my ship in the South China Sea, along with the rest of our mail, by an SH-60 Seahawk helicopter. The Seahawk had come from an aircraft carrier, which had in turn had received the mail from a C-2 Greyhound cargo aircraft, which had presumably picked up our mail a day or two earlier when we had passed within delivery range of Guam.

I immediately filled out my ballot and dropped it in the ship’s post office. But I knew it was a pointless exercise, because California — like most other states — wouldn’t (and still doesn’t) accept ballots after Election Day, regardless of when they were postmarked (at the time, California mailed ballots out only 30 days before the election). A couple of days later, I watched the election results from a hotel room in Hong Kong, shaking my head at the irony that one of the sacrifices I had made to serve my country was to effectively lose my right to vote.

As you can see from my story, the logistical chain for military members receiving “snail mail” while serving overseas can be quite long, which is why the services were early and eager adopters of electronic communications. But when it comes to voting, paper ballots are (for security reasons) still required in most states, and thus the troops remain at the mercy of the military mail system.

The armed services, for their part, have made significant strides since 1996 to improve the chances for military members to successfully cast their ballots. Every unit has a voting assistance program, with officers assigned to help members get access to resources such as voter registration forms, absentee ballots, and Federal Write-In Absentee ballots (to be used when the voter doesn’t receive the state ballot on time). The states, on the other hand, have only paid lip service to this problem. Since 1996, I have managed to vote successfully in every major election. This is largely because I am conscientious about updating my address and registration regularly, and I make it a point to vote in person whenever I’m home around election time. When voting from overseas, I always research the candidates and ballot issues in advance, and vote my absentee ballot the same day that I receive it. But it shouldn’t be this difficult.

The Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act signed into law last year is the latest attempt to address this problem. One of the law’s key provisions is that the states must mail overseas ballots out 45 days in advance of the election, in order to provide sufficient time for overseas voters to receive and return the ballot by Election Day. This is a step in the right direction, but my own experience illustrates that even 45 days might not be long enough.

In any event, the states aren’t meeting even this minimum standard. I know this because although I am no longer in the Navy, my life of adventure finds me – once again – voting from overseas. I live and work in Asia, but maintain my legal residence in San Diego, where the registrar of voters has a very nice website which you can use to check on the status of your registration and absentee ballot. According to the registrar, my ballot was mailed on October 4, less than 30 days before Election Day. California (or at least San Diego County) is evidently not in compliance with the MOVE act.

Fortunately, I am currently in a static location with regular and semi-reliable mail delivery. I received my absentee ballot yesterday (October 13), and promptly voted and placed it in the outgoing mail. I also noticed that this year, for the first time, California has included a provision for overseas voters to submit their votes by fax if they don’t receive their ballots on time. Of course, this means the voter loses the ability to cast a secret ballot, but that is arguably better than losing your franchise. The final line of defense, if you don’t get your ballot on time, would be to cast a Federal Write-In Absentee ballot (available online here: www.fvap.gov).

The bottom line for military and overseas voters is you need to be ever vigilant about defending and exercising your own right to vote, because the states have proven that they just can’t be relied upon to do the right thing, even when compelled by law.

Side note: I’m not a Constitutional scholar, but maybe some expert out there can say whether Article 2 of the 13th Amendment could be brought into play on this issue:

Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

While subsequent amendments have expanded the right to vote to all men and women over the age of eighteen, the sanctions described above appear to remain in force. Something to think about.

Mr. Anonymous is a longtime writer who wishes to remain…anonymous.