This is the first bit of information I have seen about the outcome of the overseas military vote in 2006.... and it's not good.
In 2006, of the overseas military ballots requested nationwide, only 30% were counted.
And in Florida in 2006, only 27% were counted.
**And no one knows why.**
Troops overseas miss out on votingBy DARA KAM
Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau
October 31, 2008
TALLAHASSEE — The men and women dodging bullets in Iraq and Afghanistan now have something else to worry about: whether their votes will be counted.
.....
Even if their ballots get in the mail, a federal audit found, only about 27 percent of the 77,000 military overseas ballots requested by Floridians in 2006 actually were counted.
Florida military personnel, as well as civilians living overseas, can receive their ballots by e-mail, print them, fill them out and return them to elections supervisors by regular mail or fax.
Mail sent from military bases in the Middle East, however, can take up to three weeks to be delivered, prompting the legislature to pass the law to allow overseas voters to fax them.
Although the state gives those living or stationed overseas an extra 10 days to return their ballots, only the votes in federal races are counted if the ballots are received after 7 p.m. on Election Day.
The troops whom Browning visited want to be able to scan their completed ballots and e-mail them back to their elections supervisors - a suggestion he said is reasonable and one he would pursue.
Many military personnel also want to get an e-mail confirming their absentee ballot was received, Browning said - something that should be simple to do.
.....
In the last federal election in 2006, only about 30 percent of all overseas military ballots requested nationwide were counted, according to data gathered by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, compared with about 85 percent of those requested by domestic residents.
No one knows exactly why the ballots were not counted. Many never were received, possibly because military personnel move frequently or are deployed after they make their request. Others arrived too late or were filled out incorrectly. Some never may have been sent.
"Every single member of the military takes an oath to defend the Constitution. Yet they are the ones that are being systematically denied the fundamental right of voting. That's a breach of trust," said Bob Carey, a senior fellow at the National Defense Committee, a Washington-based nonprofit organization that advocates for military voting rights.
"Who is going to be more affected by the decisions of elected leaders than the personnel who are carrying out those orders? They're being denied the opportunity in having a say in who those leaders should be."
Florida is one of four states targeted by Carey's organization and others in which teams of lawyers will keep tabs on the counting of overseas ballots, he said.
.....
I would wager that the trend of military voting is decidedly more Democratic since the epic Bush failure-- something the GOP would rather keep hidden.
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