|
March 2010
Dear
Friend of the Military Voter,
Law
Review 1013 (Mar.
2010) is about military and overseas absentee voting and recent (Oct.
2009) amendments to the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act
(UOCAVA), a federal statute enacted in 1986. The amendments go into
effect at the time of the Nov. 2010 general election. Every state,
and every local election official, must now (as a matter of federal law)
mail absentee ballots 45 days before Election Day, to military and overseas
voters who apply that early. If any state fails to make that
deadline, in some or all local jurisdictions, the state must apply for a
waiver from the Secretary of Defense. To obtain the waiver, the state
must demonstrate both that an "undue hardship" prevented the
state from mailing the ballots 45 days before Election Day and that the
state has implemented an alternative plan that gives military and overseas
citizens a reasonable opportunity to cast ballots that really get counted.
I am concerned that some local election officials will try to circumvent
federal law by hiding the fact that they do not have ballots printed and
ready to mail 45 days before Election Day. There are more than 7,800
local election offices nationwide, and it is difficult to monitor their
performance from here in Washington. Please contact your local
election official--County Clerk, County Auditor, County Election Board,
Town Clerk, etc. The titles vary, but you can figure it out.
Your local election official needs to know that someone in your community
is interested in ensuring that absentee ballots are printed and mailed
sufficiently early so that overseas military personnel can mark and return
them in time to be counted. In most states, the local election official
is an elected official and will be interested in your input.
Law
Review 1014 (March
2010) is about a successful lawsuit instituted by the United States
Attorney General against the State of Alabama, to force the State to comply
with its obligations (as an employer) under the Uniformed Services
Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). Law
Review 0917 (Apr.
2009) is about a United States Supreme Court case requiring the State of
Colorado and the City of Denver to comply with the requirements of the
Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act (now known as the Servicemembers
Civil Relief Act or SCRA).
Whether
we are talking about UOCAVA, USERRA, or the SCRA, federal law trumps
conflicting state law, and the Federal Government will come down hard on
states that try to flout the rights of the brave young men and women who
serve in our nation's armed forces.
We also need your financial assistance for the
Servicemembers’ Law Center and its Military Voting Rights Project.
You can make a contribution by credit or debit card by clicking the
Support button below. Or just mail a check to ROA at 1 Constitution
Ave. NE Washington, DC 20002. Please make the check
payable to “ROA” and mark it for “Servicemembers’ Law Center.”
Very
respectfully,
 Samuel F. Wright
Captain, JAGC, USN (Ret.)
Director, Servicemembers Law Center,
Military Voting Rights Project
1 Constitution Ave. NE
Washington, DC 20002
(202) 646-7730
(800) 809-9448, ext. 730
(202) 646-7767 (fax)
SWright@roa.org
|
