Obama Attempts To Suppress Ohio Military Vote

Posted 08/06/2012 06:58 PM ET

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Politics: The administration likes to use soldiers for photo-ops but now, in a critical battleground state, they want to restrict the extra time for service members who protect our right to vote to cast theirs.

mvsaclThe administration showed its true appreciation for military service when, on July 17, the Obama for America Campaign, the Democratic National Committee and the Ohio Democratic Party filed suit in that swing state to strike down part of the state's law governing voting by members of the military that gives them extra time to cast their ballots.

Ohio is one of 32 states that allows early voting in person or by mail without an excuse.

Until recently Ohio state law allowed early voting in person for everyone up until the Monday before the Tuesday election. The GOP-controlled legislature moved that deadline back to the Friday before, retaining the Monday deadline for military personnel.

Republican Gov. John Kasich signed the bill into law.

AMVETS, the National Guard Association of the United States, the U.S. Army Association and other organizations on Wednesday asked a judge to dismiss the suit that seeks to deny members of the military the three extra days to cast their votes early on the grounds that the Ohio legislature was not discriminating against anyone, but merely recognizing the difficulties service members can face in casting their ballots.

While Democratic groups say the military exemption is "arbitrary" with "no discernible rational basis," military groups say federal and state law in fact recognizes the need to give military personnel extra time to vote.

Considering that Ohio voters can cast early ballots up to 35 days before an election, the military extension imposes no undue hardship on other voters.

The National Defense Committee, a veterans organization, notes that "for each of the last three years, the Department of Defense's Federal Voting Assistance Program has reported to the President and the Congress that the number one reason for military voter disenfranchisement is inadequate time to successfully vote."

An administration that constantly talks about voter disenfranchisement appears unconcerned that a study by the nonpartisan Military Voters Protection Project found that in 2008 less than 20% of 2.5 million military voters successfully voted by absentee ballot.

In 2010, participation shrank to a scandalous 5%. We need to encourage military voting and make it easier.

Supporters of the suit claim the Democrats aren't really trying to suppress the military vote, just give others the same access to polls that would be open anyway.

Supporters of the current law say the military needs all the time possible for members to vote and the law was designed to make rules in Ohio's 88 counties consistent and reduce the need for weekend overtime to keep facilities open.

The problem is the Obama administration has shown a disregard for military voters who, studies show, tend to vote Republican. In the 2010 election cycle, the Department of Justice was woefully lax in enforcing the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act, which was designed to ensure that military voters overseas get their ballots in time to mark and return them.

Of course, this reluctance to promote and support military voting — while dead voters are allowed to remain on the rolls and cast ballots, and while the right of felons to vote is championed — has nothing to do with the fact that John McCain won 54% of the military vote in 2008 or that a May 2012 Gallup poll showed Mitt Romney pulling 58% to President Obama's paltry 34%.

This isn't surprising considering the GOP's strong position on national defense, particularly while President Obama apologizes to our enemies and guts the military budget. Regardless, those who risk their lives to protect our right to vote should get all the extra time they need.

Obama To Soldiers Overseas: No Voting For You!

Posted 09/07/2012 05:46 PM ET

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Military: The administration thanks the troops for their service by failing to comply with a law requiring that it help soldiers deployed overseas cast ballots in their home states.

The administration has taken various states to court to block voter ID laws on the grounds it will disenfranchise voters. But it has no qualms about the disenfranchisement of military voters overseas through its failure to comply with and enforce the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act, passed by Congress in 2009 and signed into law by President Barack Obama.

The law acknowledges the difficulties caused by time and distance for deployed soldiers in exercising the right to vote they put their lives on the line to protect. One of the key provisions required each military branch to create an installation voting assistance office (IVAO) for every military base outside an immediate combat zone.

Last week, however, the Pentagon's inspector general reported that attempts to locate and contact IVAO offices at overseas military installations failed about half the time.

"Results were clear. Our attempts to contact IVAOs failed about 50% of the time," the inspector general reported. "We concluded the Services had not established all the IVAOs as intended by the MOVE Act because, among other issues, the funding was not available."

The estimated cost of establishing functioning IVAOs at all overseas military bases not in combat zones is estimated at between $15 million and $20 million a year. We wasted $530 million on Solyndra but can't afford a relative pittance to ensure our soldiers are not disenfranchised.

An administration that constantly talks about voter disenfranchisement appears unconcerned that a study by the nonpartisan Military Voters Protection Project found that in 2008 less than 20% of 2.5 million military voters successfully voted by absentee ballot. In 2010, that participation shrank to a scandalous 5%. We need to encourage military voting and make it easier.

Is there a method in the administration's madness, a reason it doesn't want to make it easier for soldiers to vote? It couldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact that John McCain won 54% of the military vote in 2008 or that a May 2012 Gallup poll showed Mitt Romney pulling 58% to President Obama's paltry 34%.

The law also requires that states mail absentee ballots to their servicemen 45 days before an election so there's enough time to return and count them. The Department of Justice can file suit to ensure compliance but in 2010 was content to grant failing states waivers. As a result, about one-third of overseas troops who wanted to vote in 2010 couldn't, according to testimony at a House committee hearing in February.

The administration showed its true appreciation for military service when on July 17 the Obama for America Campaign, the Democratic National Committee and the Ohio Democratic Party filed suit in that swing state to strike down part of a state law governing voting by members of the military that gives them three extra days to cast their ballots. The Democrats objected that it discriminated against nonmilitary voters.

The National Defense Committee, a veterans organization, notes that "for each of the last three years, the Department of Defense's Federal Voting Assistance Program has reported to the president and the Congress that the number one reason for military voter disenfranchisement is inadequate time to successfully vote."

"You guys make a pretty good photo-op," Obama joked during a 2009 visit to Osan Air Base in South Korea, greeting roughly 1,500 airmen, soldiers, sailors and Marines, many in camouflage, in an airport hangar.

They also make pretty good voters, and the indifference of their commander in chief in ensuring their right and ability to vote is a national disgrace.