Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
FNC
October 23, 2008
Special Report With Brit Hume (FNC), 6:00 PM
BRIT HUME: A poll of active duty and retired military members late last month found that only 44 percent will be able to vote in person. The rest will have to find another way, and there are serious questions about the government effort to make sure that those votes – the votes of those who are serving their country – are actually counted. Correspondent David Lee Miller explains.
DAVID LEE MILLER: Air Force Captain Scott Jensen is in Afghanistan, thousands of miles from his town of El Paso, Texas. Despite the hardship of the frontlines, Jensen says voting is a priority.
CAPT. SCOTT JENSEN [U.S. Air Force]: I consider it a right and an obligation for us to go ahead and vote and take our government seriously.
MILLER: To make it easier for overseas military personnel to cast a ballot, the government created the FVAP – the Federal Voting Assistance Program. So far 23 states have agreed to participate in the program’s online voter registration. Twenty-one states will also e-mail a blank ballot, while 11 go even further, permitting e-mail voting.
But critics says the program is an expensive failure. According to Democratic Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, in the last national election only about 25 percent of the military personnel who requested an absentee ballot actually cast a vote. She calls the electronic system a national disgrace and has introduced legislation to have it overhauled.
REP. CAROLYN MALONEY (D-NY): It’s unconscionable that men and women that are risking their lives overseas to protect our democracy, our right to vote, our freedoms, our values, are disenfranchised.
MILLER: While the Department of Defense says it does not comment on pending legislation, a spokesman citing a federal report said Maloney’s statistics for absentee voting are underestimates based on incomplete information. In a statement the DOD said in part “the FVAP has received positive feedback and does not anticipate any problems leading up to Election Day,” adding, “more than 18,000 voters have established accounts.”
But even if the system is operational, critics say it’s not easy to navigate. The problem, in some states, county boards of elections decide whether or not to take part in the online program. The result: confusion.
MATTHEW WOESSNER [Political Science Professor]: Ultimately, military personnel have a lot on their minds. It’s very difficult for them to contact local officials to find out what the rules are in their locality.
MILLER: At stake, nearly half a million overseas military votes – votes that in a razor close election could make all the difference.
In New York, David Lee Miller, Fox News.
October 23, 2008
Special Report With Brit Hume (FNC), 6:00 PM
BRIT HUME: A poll of active duty and retired military members late last month found that only 44 percent will be able to vote in person. The rest will have to find another way, and there are serious questions about the government effort to make sure that those votes – the votes of those who are serving their country – are actually counted. Correspondent David Lee Miller explains.
DAVID LEE MILLER: Air Force Captain Scott Jensen is in Afghanistan, thousands of miles from his town of El Paso, Texas. Despite the hardship of the frontlines, Jensen says voting is a priority.
CAPT. SCOTT JENSEN [U.S. Air Force]: I consider it a right and an obligation for us to go ahead and vote and take our government seriously.
MILLER: To make it easier for overseas military personnel to cast a ballot, the government created the FVAP – the Federal Voting Assistance Program. So far 23 states have agreed to participate in the program’s online voter registration. Twenty-one states will also e-mail a blank ballot, while 11 go even further, permitting e-mail voting.
But critics says the program is an expensive failure. According to Democratic Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, in the last national election only about 25 percent of the military personnel who requested an absentee ballot actually cast a vote. She calls the electronic system a national disgrace and has introduced legislation to have it overhauled.
REP. CAROLYN MALONEY (D-NY): It’s unconscionable that men and women that are risking their lives overseas to protect our democracy, our right to vote, our freedoms, our values, are disenfranchised.
MILLER: While the Department of Defense says it does not comment on pending legislation, a spokesman citing a federal report said Maloney’s statistics for absentee voting are underestimates based on incomplete information. In a statement the DOD said in part “the FVAP has received positive feedback and does not anticipate any problems leading up to Election Day,” adding, “more than 18,000 voters have established accounts.”
But even if the system is operational, critics say it’s not easy to navigate. The problem, in some states, county boards of elections decide whether or not to take part in the online program. The result: confusion.
MATTHEW WOESSNER [Political Science Professor]: Ultimately, military personnel have a lot on their minds. It’s very difficult for them to contact local officials to find out what the rules are in their locality.
MILLER: At stake, nearly half a million overseas military votes – votes that in a razor close election could make all the difference.
In New York, David Lee Miller, Fox News.