Stars & Stripes: LESS THAN HALF OF MILITARY VOTES OVERSEAS COUNTED IN '06

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Less than half of military votes overseas counted

Election commission: 57,000 ballots were cast in ’06

By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Tuesday, September 25, 2007



WASHINGTON — Overseas military voters had less than half of their votes counted in last year’s congressional elections, according to data released by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission on Monday.

“One thing is clear: At every level of government, we need to do a better job,” said Donetta Davidson, chair of the commission. “We must make sure all eligible voters are getting their opportunities.”

The figures, released at the commission’s annual conference on ways to improve and troubleshoot the absentee voting process, showed that only about 992,000 of the nearly 6 million eligible overseas citizens requested ballots for the 2006 general election.

That included about 119,000 military personnel stationed outside the United States. Of those, only about 57,000 — less than 48 percent — had their votes successfully cast or counted.

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http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=56561&archive=true

CROSS POSTED IN ELECTION REFORM. THIS WAS DOWN FROM 24% DISENFRANCHISEMENT IN 2004. VERY APPALLING! CAN'T LET THOSE DEM VOTES BE COUNTED REGARDLESS OF WHETHER A SOLDIER IS RISKING THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR COUNTRY. CROSS POST:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x483566