The Virginian-Pilot
©
WASHINGTON
State elections officials and Attorney General Bob McDonnell are taking a new look at a thicket of state and federal voting laws that threaten to invalidate some of the thousands of absentee votes being cast by military members and other Virginians overseas.
"Every eligible vote will be counted," David Clementson, a McDonnell spokesman, said Friday.
The review by the State Board of Elections and McDonnell's office comes amid calls from some of the attorney general's fellow Republicans for the state to count all votes submitted using a federal write-in absentee ballot.
In a conference call arranged by the McCain for President campaign, former Attorney General Jerry Kilgore said Friday that federal law should "trump" a state statute that the elections board has said would require it to set aside some votes submitted on the federal ballot.
At issue is a state requirement that the completed federal ballot provide both the name and address of a witness to the absentee vote - unless the voter has also requested a separate, state-furnished ballot. The federal form, used for voting in all 50 states, does not provide a space for the address and does not specify which states, such as Virginia, require it.
The federal ballot is intended as a backup, for use when voters have applied for, but not yet received, a Virginia ballot. The state form requires the witness's signature but not an address.
As McDonnell and the elections board studied the problem Friday, the Pentagon sent fresh guidance on the subject to all the military branches.
The directions from the Federal Voting Assistance Project caution that service members overseas who vote using the federal form must provide both the name and address of a witness unless the voter also has previously applied for a state ballot form.
Voters may use the federal form to both apply for an absentee ballot and cast their vote. Those who do so must submit the form to state officials no later than Oct. 30, five days before the election. Those who use the state form must mail in their ballot in time for it to reach their registrar's office by Election Day.
The number of voters who use only the federal form is unclear. Several Hampton Roads area registrars said this week that most service members overseas who take the trouble to vote use the state form.
The federal write-in form was created in the wake of the disputed 2000 presidential race, when thousands of write-in votes cast by service members in Florida became a focal point in the razor-thin vote count between Al Gore and George W. Bush.
Dale Eisman, (703) 913-9872, dale.eisman@pilotonline.com
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DISPARITY
I just had to "witness" my wife's absentee ballot because she is going to be out of the country and there is no place for an address. Just my signature! So if there is a disparity why isn't this address requirement on the federal form just thrown out? STUPID!
"took the trouble to vote?"
What is that? Why is that in this article? Why would a reporter write something like that? What is this reporter aluding to or this article? Why is it "troublesome" for someone to go through the process of performing an absentee ballot? Is this reporter infering that the military or anyone who is eligable to vote via absentee ballot should not as it is "troublesome"? Troublesome to whom? If the process is causes trouble for the voter, fix it. If it is for the people who have to count them, it implies that absentee votes may not be counted. Why was this sentence placed in this article? That is troublesome in itself.
Yet VB will "disregard" a VA law that says people cannot vote if they are wearing political articles of clothing. You will discredit one set of voters for not following the law, but will turn your back on another law. This convience adds to the polarity of voters and harms this country. It also discredits all of VA results.