Bill aims to make military absentee ballots count

A bill introduced Jan. 3 aims to protect the votes of military personnel who choose to vote by absentee ballot. The Armed Services Voting Act (H.R. 159), introduced by Rep. Bob Riley, R-Ala., would require election officials to count military absentee ballots despite technical faults such as postmark problems. "A soldier's vote must count," Riley said. "I don't care if the ballot was delivered by military mail, U.S. mail, FedEx or the Pony Express, if it gets to the courthouse on time, we should salute them for their service and count their vote, period." The bill, which addresses an issue that arose in Florida during the recent presidential election, would not override a state's deadline. If passed into law, the bill would require election officials to count absentee ballots submitted by military personnel unless there is "clear and convincing evidence of fraud." Under the bill, the lack of a witness' signature or of an address, postmark or other technical requirement beyond a service member's control would not serve to disqualify the vote. Former Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz., introduced a similar bill during the final days of the 106th Congress, after Florida officials discarded about 1,500 absentee military ballots. Riley's legislation eliminates a retroactive clause included in Salmon's bill. "Voting is relatively convenient here at home. Most polling sites are in the neighborhood or just down the road," Riley said. "But it's not that easy for soldiers deployed in Korea, Kuwait or Kosovo to cast their votes. It takes an extra effort, and that effort should not only count, it should be appreciated and given every opportunity to be included in the final tally."