SI
SI
discoversearch

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor.  We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community.  If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.
Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: Tom Clarke who wrote (63949)11/8/2000 12:54:07 PM
From: KLP  Respond to of 769667
 
Will this make a difference now????? Best we all check on it!!

Message 14736269

SATURDAY
NOVEMBER 4
2000
----------

ELECTION 2000
Military missing
absentee ballots

Some Army, Navy personnel unable
to vote for new commander in chief

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Jon E. Dougherty
© 2000 WorldNetDaily.com

Members of the military who are currently stationed overseas have complained
that the Pentagon has not yet sent
out absentee ballots this year, meaning they will not get to vote for a new
commander in chief on Tuesday.

Specifically, members of U.S. Navy units who are stationed overseas and aboard
the USS Cole -- the destroyer
recently attacked by terrorists while it was undergoing refueling in the port of
Aden, Yemen -- have either not
received ballots or won't get them in time because of current deployment
circumstances, Pentagon officials said
yesterday.

"I've heard about this within the past week," said Lt. Dave Guy, a spokesman for
the Army. "We are trying to get
more information. We don't know if they were delayed through the mail."

He added that due to current deployment considerations, some military members
overseas likely would not get
their ballots in time.

"The support team for the USS Cole may not get their ballots due to intermittent
mail," Guy said. "Some ballots
could very well be delayed for a number of reasons."

A Maine resident -- who asked not to be identified -- said her Navy daughter
who is stationed in Tokyo has
received her absentee ballot for every election except this one.

"No one at the base will be voting because all the absentee ballots are missing,"
she told WorldNetDaily.

Navy officials were also contacted but did not return phone calls.

Critics have suggested that the Clinton administration may have purposely
delayed sending absentee ballots to
military personnel overseas because most, according to recent surveys, will vote
Republican. The White House has
denied those charges.

According to Guy, officials with the Federal Voting Assistance Program -- which
helps manage balloting for
overseas service members -- "was not aware of any group non-delivery."

Guy said depending on the home state of the member, ballots can be sent via
Standard Form 136, which is a
write-in ballot. States have different deadlines for such ballots, he added.

Each ballot "is unit specific and handled individually," he said.

Guy noted that "the military has a much higher participation [of overall voters] in
the voting process" than does the
general voting public. In the 1996 election, he said 64 percent of service
members participated; 40 percent of those
were absentee ballots. Twelve percent could not vote for various reasons,
including because ballots were either
sent late or otherwise not received on time.

I've heard about this within the past week. We are trying to get more information.
We don't know if they were
delayed through the mail.

-- Lt. Dave Guy, an Army spokesman, commenting on the failure of personnel to
receive their absentee ballots

The support team for the USS Cole may not get their ballots due to intermittent
mail.

-- Lt. Dave Guy

No one at the base will be voting because all the absentee ballots are missing.

-- A Maine woman, commenting on the base in Japan where her daughter is
stationed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© 2000 WorldNetDaily.com, Inc.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Direct corrections and technical inquiries to webmaster@worldnetdaily.com
Please direct news submissions to news@worldnetdaily.com