They can shoot but they can’t vote
Two out of every five military absentee ballots in New York State are not counted, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, said today.
It takes up to 82 days for troops stationed overseas to go through the process of voting absentee in New York State – the ballot spends three days with the voter, 72 days in transit, and 7 days being processed by the state Board of Elections, Schumer said.
New York is one of only three states to require the entire absentee voting process to take place by mail. New York is also one of 16 states labeled by the Pew Center on the States as a “No Time to Vote” state, meaning New York does not mail absentee ballots in time for military personnel to vote before the deadline.
The data below, obtained from the state Board of Elections, shows the number of local military absentee voters and their lost votes in 2008.
Hudson Valley military voters requested 3,539 absentee ballots in 2008, but only 2,125 were returned and counted. The other 1,414 ballots or 40 percent were “lost.”
In Westchester County 1,083 military ballots were sent out but only 534 were received and counted in 2008.
In Putnam County 191 military ballots went out but only 96 were received and counted in 2008.
Rockland did better with 295 military ballots sent out and 226 counted in 2008.
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“New York is one of only three states to require the entire absentee voting process to take place by mail. New York is also one of 16 states labeled by the Pew Center on the States as a “No Time to Vote” state, meaning New York does not mail absentee ballots in time for military personnel to vote before the deadline.”
I am a Paper Ballot supporter. I am retired from the US Postal Service. Mail in Ballots are a wonderful idea if the stubborn glitches can be solved. Why is registering to vote and getting absentee ballots so difficult? Fraud in voting has been committed as long as voting has been used. So few people vote the preferred campaign tecnique is to suppress votes rather than encourage everybody to to vote. I am waiting for the day we can all show our purple finger to the world as proof we voted. Imagine if anybody without a purle finger got to vote. I know, there must be some sort of lists to corordinate districts and polling places. It is just plain silly that there must be mayonaise free ballots to be counted. Fix the mail in process for everyone and the absentee military ballot problems will disappear.
Some want to walk up to a computer screen, touch a name and hope it was counted properly inside all that electronic jumble. It would be simple thing like using a credit card online. I do it but always see the results by reply or service rendered. How would I know who got my vote after touching a computer screen?
Do you outsource your graphic work for your website? I like them and would be interested in knowing who did yours!