The Military and their vote

Our Military should be our pride and joy. They lay their lives down for us to have the freedom to exist everyday and some even use that freedom to spit on our flag. If you ask them, they may be offended or hurt by how they are treated or taken for granted, but I dare say that they'd be quick to tell you that they wouldn't change it. They'd continue to do it for their families and ours. So please explain to me why these men and women are having their votes discounted, discouraged and discriminated against? These men and women who sacrifice so much to give us the priviledge to excercise our freedom and right to vote??

I'm going to give you some links below with snippets from each to show how our Military is being disenfranchised.


Is the Obama administration suppressing the military vote?
 http://www.humanevents.com/2012/09/27/is-the-obama-administration-suppressing-the-military-vote/,
The Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act was enacted in 2009 as part of the defense authorization bill to counter the apparent barriers to military voting. It required blank absentee ballots to be sent to service members who requested them at least 45 days before an election and called for the creation of dedicated voting assistance offices on every non-deployed military installation.

But while these offices were dutifully set up at many installations, early numbers suggest they are ineffective, and a recent Inspector General investigation found that representatives in those offices are, up to half the time, unreachable or unresponsive.

In a Sept. 13 hearing of the House Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee on military personnel to discuss the Inspector General report, Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) suggested the problem lay with Obama administration priorities.

“It seems to me that the DoD made sure that they got the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell surveys (determining the effects of a repeal) to every member of the military, to every spouse, to everybody that they were supposed to,” he said. “But when it comes to military voting, it seems that we’re not able to get the absentee ballots to our soldiers…it seems to me that there’s a different standard there when it comes to voting versus a survey that the DoD or the administration actually wanted a response to.”

Rasmussen poll conducted in July found that Romney leads Obama 59 percent to 35 percent for Obama among likely voters with military service.



Obama Campaign Sues to Restrict Military Voting
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/08/02/obama-campaign-sues-to-restrict-military-voting
President Barack Obama, along with many Democrats, likes to say that, while they may disagree with the GOP on many issues related to national security, they absolutely share their admiration and dedication to members of our armed forces. Obama, in particular, enjoys being seen visiting troops and having photos taken with members of our military. So, why is his campaign and the Democrat party suing to restrict their ability to vote in the upcoming election?
On July 17th, the Obama for America Campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and the Ohio Democratic Party filed suit in OH to strike down part of that state's law governing voting by members of the military. Their suit said that part of the law is "arbitrary" with "no discernible rational basis."
Currently, Ohio allows the public to vote early in-person up until the Friday before the election. Members of the military are given three extra days to do so. While the Democrats may see this as "arbitrary" and having "no discernible rational basis," I think it is entirely reasonable given the demands on servicemen and women's time and their obligations to their sworn duty.
The National Defense Committee reports:

[f]or 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.

I think it's unconscionable that we as a nation wouldn't make it as easy as possible for members of the military to vote. They arguably have more right to vote than the rest of us, since it is their service and sacrifice that ensures we have the right to vote in the first place.
If anyone proposes legislation to combat voter fraud, Democrats will loudly scream that the proposal could "disenfranchise" some voter, somewhere. We must ensure, they argue, that voting is easy and accessible to every single voter. Every voter, that is, except the men and women of our military.
Make no mistake, the Democrat lawsuit is intended to disenfranchise some unknown number of military voters. The judge should reject it with prejudice.

Military Voting Rights Under Fire in Ohio
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/314434/military-voting-rights-under-fire-ohio-john-fund#
Lawyers for the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee marched into federal court last week to argue that it is unconstitutional for Ohio to allow military voters to cast in-person early ballots on the Saturday through Monday before Election Day, given that early voting for all other voters stops on the Friday before Election Day

This article goes into the argument that was presented and it will absolutely make your blood boil. The ruling that came down allowed EVERYONE to vote early.....no special treatment for Military. Exactly what Obama wanted. Ohio is a BIG state in this election.


Wisconsin absentee ballots for military voters sent after deadline
http://www.humanevents.com/2012/10/02/wisconsin-absentee-ballots-for-military-voters-sent-after-deadline/
If you are a member of the U.S. military on deployment, and you hail from the state of Wisconsin, please know that you have the heartfelt thanks of every patriotic American for your service… but you might not be able to vote in the 2012 election.

That’s because, as reported by the MacIver Institute, “At least 30 Wisconsin municipalities failed to send absentee ballots to military voters before the 45 day deadline, according to former U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Anthony Principi, and he’s demanding the Government Accountability Board address the problem immediately.”

The deadline was calculated using the estimated length of time required to send, complete, and return absentee ballots. This creates a strong risk that military ballots won’t be returned in time to be counted in the election. The deadline was not an idle suggestion – it’s part of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voter Act.

The article goes on to state that they were told in order to extend the deadline so that these votes could be counted it would require a court order. I'd like to know if that court order was persued.

WISCONSIN’S GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY BOARD WON’T EXTEND DEADLINE FOR MILITARY VOTERS
http://imkane.wordpress.com/2012/10/17/wisconsins-government-accountability-board-wont-extend-deadline-for-military-voters/
There's my answer


Soldier pays $90 to vote absentee
http://www.humanevents.com/2012/11/02/hodge-soldier-pays-90-to-vote-absentee/
This is so very WRONG!!! This man has sacrificed enough and now he has to pay to make sure his vote counts!!! Regardless of WHO he votes for this is horribly screwed up.

Absentee ballots may have been destroyed in crash
http://news.yahoo.com/absentee-ballots-may-destroyed-crash-210240583--election.html