James Lambert
Senators ask Panetta to the implement the Move Act that protects the military vote
By James Lambert
Recently I was on a street corner in the Point Loma district of San Diego. The area is home to an active Marine Corps base that has been a part of the City of San Diego for more than 60 years. For the ½ hour that I was there (a city block from the entrance to this base) I noticed an inordinate amount of "honks" and "waves" from those driving by during the morning rush hour. I was holding up several signs. One read: "America on the brink — Defeat Obama." The other sign read, "Our debt is growing by $3+ MM every minute" (and on the reverse — there was a Romney Ryan decal) on this medium sized sign. I guess it was my small way of voicing my concern for our nation's growing economic national debt problems and why we need to make a change in leadership in the White House.
What surprised me was the overwhelming support from the cars of people who drove by me in the area. I hadn't ever experienced that degree of support before.
Now I think I know why. I believe that much of the support for the Republican candidate came from our friends in the military. What a shame it would be if their vote, the vote from the very people who put their lives on the line for our country, would be (even partially) denied. Now we are told that a number of these brave soldiers' ballots were lost and some might not get their ballots in time at all.
That is why six Republican Senators sent a letter recently to the Secretary of Defense requesting that the Armed Services insure that the Move Act would be properly implemented. Today, we know it has not been fully complied with.
Enacted in 2009, the Move Act was written to insure that military installations overseas would provide 'assistance offices' to make sure that enlisted staff would have sufficient access to voting ballots. Projections have already forecasted that voting among the military may be down by as much as 25%. As of early September only 35,000 absentee ballots have been requested (compared to 166,000 in the 2008 election).
Senators Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), John Cornyn (R-Tex.), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH),
Richard Burr (R-NC), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and John Barrasso (R-WY) all signed the letter to President Obama's Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta expressing their concern.
© James Lambert
November 6, 2012
Recently I was on a street corner in the Point Loma district of San Diego. The area is home to an active Marine Corps base that has been a part of the City of San Diego for more than 60 years. For the ½ hour that I was there (a city block from the entrance to this base) I noticed an inordinate amount of "honks" and "waves" from those driving by during the morning rush hour. I was holding up several signs. One read: "America on the brink — Defeat Obama." The other sign read, "Our debt is growing by $3+ MM every minute" (and on the reverse — there was a Romney Ryan decal) on this medium sized sign. I guess it was my small way of voicing my concern for our nation's growing economic national debt problems and why we need to make a change in leadership in the White House.
What surprised me was the overwhelming support from the cars of people who drove by me in the area. I hadn't ever experienced that degree of support before.
Now I think I know why. I believe that much of the support for the Republican candidate came from our friends in the military. What a shame it would be if their vote, the vote from the very people who put their lives on the line for our country, would be (even partially) denied. Now we are told that a number of these brave soldiers' ballots were lost and some might not get their ballots in time at all.
That is why six Republican Senators sent a letter recently to the Secretary of Defense requesting that the Armed Services insure that the Move Act would be properly implemented. Today, we know it has not been fully complied with.
Enacted in 2009, the Move Act was written to insure that military installations overseas would provide 'assistance offices' to make sure that enlisted staff would have sufficient access to voting ballots. Projections have already forecasted that voting among the military may be down by as much as 25%. As of early September only 35,000 absentee ballots have been requested (compared to 166,000 in the 2008 election).
Senators Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), John Cornyn (R-Tex.), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH),
Richard Burr (R-NC), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and John Barrasso (R-WY) all signed the letter to President Obama's Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta expressing their concern.
© James Lambert
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