Reports of
Blocked Military
Votes Still Coming In
Angel Shamaya
Director, KeepAndBearArms.com
November 9, 2000
11:57, PST
KeepAndBearArms.com -- We have more
confirmed reports of U.S. servicemen and women being prevented from voting.
Absentee ballots missing or arriving too late is a larger problem than we'd even
have guessed, and we are still receiving new reports as the day wears on.
Here are the latest reports:
Okinawa -- another confirmed report of
no ballot having been provided. In her own words:
"I am living on Okinawa. I was active
duty until Sep 02-00, and I did ask my unit rep to sign me up to vote
-- but heard nothing after that. I did not receive a ballot at all. Yes,
I would have voted for Gov. Bush."
We also have our first confirmed report of a resident
of Florida stationed in America whose ballot didn't arrive
until the day before the election. He requested his absentee ballot in September
and placed a second request in October. According to him:
"I received my Ballot the day after the
election. My parents requested my ballot in September, but it was sent to the
wrong address. I re-requested a ballot in late October. I live in Florida, and
I would have voted for Bush."
He's not the only soldier who resides in
Florida and didn't receive a ballot -- and would have thrown a vote to Governor
Bush. This just came in:
"I am a state resident of Florida.
In my 16 years in the military I have never NOT received a ballot...until this year. And yes, I would most definitely have voted for
Bush."
And so it goes. We have a confirmed report in
from a couple whose home state is Oregon. She received her ballot, and he
didn't.
Some military personnel did receive their
ballots in time to vote, of course. From our email today:
"I am from the state of Illinois, and
requested my ballot in September, I received my ballot on November 6th 2000,
the ballot needed to be returned by 2 pm on the 7th. I did send my
ballot in, and I did vote for BUSH!!"
and
"I am a
soldier stationed in the US at Carlisle Barracks in Pennsylvania, away from my
voting district. Everyone at Carlisle Barracks was provided all forms,
etc months in advance. I can tell you that everyone here was
encouraged to vote."
How those who received their ballots on the 7th
were to accomplish the stated deadline is a mystery.
Related Articles:
Thank you to all who've assisted in blowing
this thing wide open. We've had calls from Senators asking servicemen and women
to contact their
Senators and U.S. Representatives directly. And we continue our request to
all military personnel: please fill out our survey from the above link --
especially if you didn't get to vote. Just because you contact your
congresscritters doesn't mean that information will get to the Governor. We will
get it there.
