Need help regarding military ballots in 2000.

[T Roosevelt]

Friend of mine pulled this out of his ass:


Also, what about the thousands of disenfranchise military personally whose votes were not counted because they lacked a post mark? Oversea mail from the military quite often is not post marked. Cliniton was the one who ordered their votes not to be counted: stating that they could not prove those votes were submitted in time.

Where the hell did that Clinton reference come from?

[radwriter0555]

1. Clinton had nothing to do with it. Standard election laws across the

nation do not allow for the counting of absentee ballots without a proper post mark.

Heck if they didn't have a proper postmark, any old corrupt crook could score up a million ballots after the fact as they pleased.

[olacan]

2. I think

what the law is when the election is a National one ballots from the military do need a post mark, plus they can be counted if they arrive after the election date. As I recall this was a law put into place during the Clinton years. The reason being that some of the smaller stations/ships do not have a post office as such. So the they could be put into the system but not receive a post mark for several days if at all. Seems as if I recall correctly this was one of the issues in Fla. in 2000.

[flpoljunkie]

3. Actually, in Florida, military ballots required proper postmarks, but

Republican counties counted those without proper postmarks as well as ignoring other Florida military ballot requirements. Clinton had no authority to make any decision for the states in running their elections--this includes the race for the presidency--so he obviously could not have issued any orders regarding military ballots.

I think that proper postmarks are no longer required, but, in Florida, the ballot must still be received within 10 days after the election. In fairness, it i sometimes difficult for servicemen to get their ballots postmarked out in the field.

Military information for Florida counties:

Military personnel, spouses, and dependents may apply for voter registration and/or request absentee ballots with a Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) that may be obtained from the Unit Voting Officer. If the FPCA is not available, phone or send a written request to the Supervisor of Elections, so that a voter registration application/absentee ballot can be sent to you. You must be sure to not only sign, but DATE your absentee envelope to ensure it is counted.

I think that HAVA has done away with the postmark requirement for military absentee ballots.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

4. Gore and Lieberman ultimately let them be counted.

They didn't want to antagonize sentiment with the military community and so they relaxed rules and A LOT of ballots were counted that shouldn't have been.