An estimated 6 million Americans might from an overseas location this year. Will their votes be counted? (and how you can help!)
I returned to Minnesota late Tuesday night after spending Monday and Tuesday at the "Democracy at a Distance" national military and overseas voting summit. The Pew Trusts and the JEHT Foundation sponsored the conference to ensure that every military voter and every overseas American can be guaranteed their votes will finally count this year.
NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday ran a great story about the conference that you can listen to yourself.
In Minnesota's 2006 election, 81% of our troops who tried to vote did not have their ballots counted(source: Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie). The delay in mail as well as outdated laws and red tape are to blame for this unacceptable situation.
In 2008, my Military and Overseas Voting Bill ended this injustice in Minnesota.
More after the flip...
Though I oppose the policy to outsource the military, defense department contractors face many of the same voting challenges - and face some of the same threats in country as our uniformed servicemembers. In fact, two of my constituents have been killed in duty as civilian contractors. A JAG officer that worked on the bill with us often told us that every morning in Kuwait, his sidearm was issued to him by a civilian contractor. They are integrated in military operations, and are American citizens.
Missionaries, Peace Corps workers, students and ambassadors also face the same challenges as overseas voters. The president of the Minnesota chapter of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) wrote an eloquent letter that I distributed on the House floor, advocating to cover all citizens, not just those in uniform - even though his son is serving in Iraq as well.
Senate File 1218 is the bill I authored - with the Pentagon, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, and State Senator and Navy veteran Sharon Erickson Ropes. It will allow overseas voters to receive their blank ballot via email, cutting the transit time in half. They can then print out their ballot and be sure that the mail will get it home in time.
Despite efforts to treat some citizens different than others, I am proud to report that ALL Minnesota citizens working or serving overseas can receive their ballot via email, and will no longer face a variety of red-tape hurdles formerly in law.
If you know a Minnesotan overseas, please forward this diary and link to them: http://minnesota.overseasvotefoundat... Mark Ritchie and local election officials including my local Chisago County Auditor Dennis Freed have done a fantastic job implementing the new law.
If you know a U.S. Citizen not from Minnesota, direct them to the general website: http://overseasvotefoundation.org.
If you prefer direct folks to the Obama-Biden platform for voting overseas, send them this link: https://obama.overseasvotefoundation...
In 2006, my election was decided by just 204 votes. Because grassroots champions of democracy helped me win this seat in the Minnesota House of Representatives, every Minnesotan overseas can cast a ballot knowing that their vote will be counted in this important election. Please help me be sure that every single voter has their voice heard by forwarding this email.
Thank you for your commitment to making our democracy work!
Jeremy
P.S. Many other states allow military and overseas voters' ballots to be counted if they are postmarked by election day but arrive a few days late. We could not include this "late counting" provision in this year's bill, but I am drafting the bill for next year's legislative session.
Anything you can do to help be sure that I am in my seat to introduce this bill - as well as covering those foreign-born Americans who cannot vote but should be allowed to vote in Minnesota - I really would appreciate! http://jeremykalin.com