To: The Voting Section of the Department of Justice
During the 2008 presidential elections, thousands of military voters were denied their civic voices when absentee ballots were sent to wrong addresses, lost in the mail, or –through no fault of their own – arrived after the election deadline. To prevent the future disenfranchisement of American soldiers, Congress passed the MOVE act in 2009 requiring state and county officials to mail absentee ballots at least 45 days before an election to give overseas military voters sufficient time to cast their votes. Unfortunately, many states have refused to amend their state laws and failed to ensure that counties mailed their ballots in a timely manner. As a result, less than 5% of 2.5 million military voters had an absentee ballot that counted in the 2010 midterm elections
During a presidential election year, with a military force totaling more than 3 million active-duty and reserve forces serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, we cannot allow systemic inefficiencies to silence our men and women in uniform. The Military Voter Protection Project (MVP) is working to pressure state and county officials to mail military voters their absentee ballots in a timely fashion. You have the power to support their important initiative by forcing states to comply with the provisions of the MOVE Act. Please ensure that the votes of all our national heroes are counted this year!
