Vote matters

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Jun 3, 2008

A Senate bill that would amend the Uniform and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of 1986 could go a long way toward ensuring votes cast in November by our military personnel serving abroad are counted before the polls close on Election Day.

The bill, which lists Sen. Pat Roberts among its co-sponsors, calls for more timely collection and delivery of ballots cast by members of the armed forces serving overseas and would require the Department of Defense to become involved in collecting, transporting and tracking those ballots, even to the extent of using express mail providers when practical.

We've said before in this space that the nonchalant manner in which this country treats its absentee military voters is nothing short of shameful. The bill put in play by the Senate, which would apply to regular elections for federal office beginning in November, has our support.

Military voters to this point have been forced to rely on regular mail or, more recently, e-mail to cast an absentee ballot. Neither method has served them well.

A board member for the Overseas Vote Foundation noted earlier this spring that paper ballots often weren't printed until 30 to 45 days before an election, which means troops overseas sometimes don't receive them in time to mark them and get them back home via regular mail before Election Day.

Only seven states now allow service men and women to receive and return ballots by e-mail. Six other states will send ballots by e- mail, but the recipients must return them by regular mail, which can delay their receipt beyond Election Day.

We earlier called for all states to join those that allow military personnel to receive and return ballots by e-mail in time for them to be counted before the polls close. In this age of instant communication, that seemed to be the easiest solution to a chronic problem.

It doesn't appear that will happen anytime soon, however, and until it does we like the Senate bill's approach.

A bipartisan letter authored in April by Sen. Wayne Allard, R- Colo., and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and signed by 17 other senators including Roberts, urged President Bush to improve the voting system for members of the military.

The letter noted that during the 2006 election 47 percent, or about 110,000, of the service men and women who wanted to vote didn't receive the opportunity, and the ballots of 20 percent of those who did get to vote weren't counted.

That's an appalling performance that, unfortunately, has become the norm rather than the exception.

We think Congress should work the Senate bill promptly to allow our troops the opportunity to participate fully in the November election.

We hope that when they gather around computers in Afghanistan, Iraq, Germany or elsewhere to watch election returns, they'll know they were able to participate in the process their service protects for the rest of us.