Administration in violation of military voting rights act

Sen. Cornyn is displeased with the Department of Defense response to the law:

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, today wrote to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, voicing concerns with the Department of Defense’s (DoD) deficient implementation of on-base voter assistance for military service members and their families, mandated by the 2009 law, theMilitary and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act, or MOVE Act. The letter was also signed by U.S. Sens. Kelly Ayotte, R-NH, John Barrasso, R-WY, Richard Burr, R-NC, Saxby Chambliss, R-GA, and James Inhofe, R-OK.

Under the MOVE Act, through specific provisions authored by Sen. Cornyn, DoD was required to ensure that troops and their families have unfettered access to voter assistance on military bases under a program modeled after the well-known “motor voter” programs for civilian voters. The law required DoD to install voter assistance offices at all bases by 2010. Released this week, a report by DoD’s Inspector General concluded that half of U.S. military bases lack the voter assistance facilities required by the MOVE Act.

“With great disappointment, we have concluded that the Department of Defense (DoD) stands in clear violation of a central provision of this federal law, which mandated the creation of on-base voter assistance offices. The price of DoD’s failure to follow the law will likely be paid this November by military service members and their families, whose voting rights were to have been safeguarded by this provision,” the Senators wrote.

“We request a timely response on what you intend to do to ensure that our military service members and their families receive the voter assistance they need in order to participate in the democratic process this November.” 

The Senators outlined immediate action items that must be taken to ensure members of the military and their family have the opportunity to vote in November’s election, including:

·        Provide every military voter with a Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) and the necessary assistance to complete that form;

·        Keep track, consistent with the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, of the number of FPCAs that were processed and sent to local election jurisdictions; and

·        Undertake significant efforts at all levels to promote and encourage military voter participation in the November election. 

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I sense some hostility to military voters by this administration.  They even opposed an Ohio law that gave them additional time to vote absentee.  Those fighting for our freedom deserve better.