Research - Rehabilitation - Re-Employment

Sgt. Shaft 08/26/2002

Dear Sgt. Shaft:
With Election Day 2002 just a few months away, the Fleet Reserve Association (FRA) is urging all members of the military community to let their voices be heard.

In response to the military absentee voting controversy during the 2000 Presidential election, Congress included language in the FY 2002 National Defense Authorization Act to correct problems with the collection and handling of absentee ballots. These included requiring the DOD Inspector General to conduct annual random assessments of compliance with existing federal laws addressing the military absentee vote; appointing voting assistance officers for terms of at least 30 months, and requiring that their performance be included in their evaluation reports; requiring the Secretary of Defense to poll all units and ships in the four months prior to congressional elections with regard of the quality of their mailing systems; and implementing electronic voting demonstration projects.

FRA salutes Congress for acting to ensure the voting rights of military personnel are adequately protected by law. Military personnel regularly vote in much higher percentages than civilians, and FRA encourages service members to do so again this November.

To help educate service members about whom their elected officials are and the importance of communicating with them, FRA is offering a free copy of a brochure entitled "Communicate With Your Elected Officials." Service members wishing to receive a copy may request one by sending their name and address to: FRA Brochure, 125 N. West Street, Alexandria, VA, 22314 or e-mail the request to news-fra@fra.org.

Voting information is also available via the "Action Center" on FRA's web page at www.fra.org. Service members can access that information, and register to vote if they need to, by going to the "Action Center" and clicking on the "Election and Candidates" menu option.

Our service members dedicate their lives to protecting our freedoms, and it's very important that their votes are cast and counted in each local, state and national election.

In Loyalty, Protection and Service,

Richard B. Smith
National President, Fleet Reserve Association

Dear Richard:
In a May 2002 hearing on military voting, John McHugh (R-NY), chair of the Military Personnel Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, stated:

“… the Subcommittee turns its attention to an issue of great importance to the men and women serving in uniform-their right to vote.

“The narrow margin of victory during the Presidential election of 2000 catapulted military voters into the headlines. As the nation watched the counting of the final ballots in Florida, it became apparent that many of those ballots belonged to 176,000 active duty military members who were registered to vote in Florida.

“The importance of the absentee vote in a close election was not lost on military members and their families around the world. Members of Congress soon received numerous complaints from service members who believed that they were denied the proper opportunity to vote. The complaints included lack of responsiveness from state election officials, poor mail delivery and pickup, and inability to get information and registration/voting materials.

“Many of those military voters were angry. They felt they had been disenfranchised without good reason and cheated out of their vote.

“This is not a new problem. In 1952, President Truman, based on military voting issues raised by servicemen fighting in Korea, urged the Congress to "not shrink from accepting its responsibility and exercising its constitutional powers to give soldiers the right to vote where the states fail to do so."

“I believe that we must do better to protect the voting rights of our military members. It is clear from the legislation that has been introduced in this Congress that a number of members share that view, to include a number of members of this Subcommittee.

“From a practical standpoint, much of the existing law that establishes the voting rights of military personnel falls outside the jurisdiction of the Committee on Armed Services, and this subcommittee. We, however, do have jurisdiction over the Department of Defense Voter Assistance Program, and I am fully committed to ensure that we exercise aggressive oversight of that program.

“Furthermore, as Chairman [Robert] Ney [R-OH] of the House Administration Committee and other committee chairman move to examine and possibly amend existing law to facilitate military voting, this subcommittee will work to assist that effort. The goal must be to make certain that there are no barriers to military voting within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Armed Services.”

“One major concern during the election was verifying the time stamp of military absentee ballots. This, however, should not be an issue. Pitney Bowes is leveraging its strong background in encryption technology to develop a modified metering device that can be used by election authorities as a "vote validator." In essence, the device and surrounding verification system could print a unique, encrypted validation mark on military ballots. This validation mark would provide secure encrypted evidence as to when and where a ballot was cast. Ballots could be easily scanned and verified against a relevant database while still protecting the individual privacy of each ballot.

Shaft Kudos
The Sarge salutes Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Bob Stump (R-AZ) for their legislation to revise existing Army regulations determining burial eligibility at Arlington National Cemetery. H.R. 4940, passed by the House Veterans Affairs Committee last month, expands eligibility to Guard and reserve members with 20 years of service but who die before reaching retirement age, and to Guard and reserve members who die while on training duty in the performance of duty. It would eliminate eligibility for high-ranking Government officials who are veterans but who would otherwise not meet the military service criteria. A limited waiver provision was included that would allow burial at Arlington for persons who have made “extraordinary contributions to the Armed Forces.” The bill has been sent to the Senate for consideration.

Send letters to Sgt. Shaft, c/o John Fales, P.O. Box 65900, Washington, D.C. 20035-5900; fax to 301-622-3330; call 202-462-4430 or email sgtshaft@bavf.org.

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