Battle brews over state's deadline for overseas ballots
JORDAN SCHRADER; Staff writer
Washington should have to meet the same deadlines as other states for sending ballots to its 60,000 voters living or deployed overseas, the state Republican Party says.
The state obtained an exemption last week from a new federal requirement to send military and overseas ballots 45 days before the Nov. 2 election.
Republicans cried foul in a resolution their state committee approved Saturday: “Failure to comply with this federal law will almost certainly result in disenfranchising the votes of our brave men and women serving in the military, who risk their lives protecting the voting rights of all Americans.”
But Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed’s office, which applied for the waiver, says Washington’s unusual election calendar allows nearly all ballots to return from even far-flung locations in time to be counted. In the past two elections, 99 percent of overseas ballots sent back were counted.
“We believe we have one of the strongest programs in the country for overseas and military voters, and that we provide opportunities above and beyond most states,” Elections Director Nick Handy said.
But because of its late Aug. 17 primary, officials say they can’t be sure they’ll meet the Sept. 18 deadline set up by Congress in the 2009 Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act.
The state won’t certify results from the primary until Tuesday, leaving just 11 days to design and print millions of ballots in hundreds of different styles, Handy said.
Still, many counties will meet the deadline – even Pierce County, with its heavy military presence and 9,050 overseas voters.
“I’m not saying that it was easy,” County Auditor Julie Anderson said. “We’ve had a lot of people working overtime. We’ve had a lot of stressed-out managers.”
Pierce County ballots have been drafted and just need some tweaks, Anderson said Tuesday, a day before counties were to certify primary results.
Other large counties could still miss the federal deadline, Handy said. Election officials wanted to be safe.
Their decision has drawn controversy. After states like Washington with August and September primaries applied for waivers, Fox News began a drumbeat of questioning over whether troops would be disenfranchised.
Calls poured in after the segments aired, Handy said. “The phone call would usually begin, ‘Why do you hate military voters?’” he said.
Callers ended up satisfied with elections officials’ explanation, he said.
Republican state committeeman Thomas Swanson isn’t. He said the exemption seems to have been sought to avoid inconveniencing government officials, who should be going “above and beyond” their legal requirements to make sure troops can vote.
“I haven’t seen a compelling case made that this (waiver) was absolutely necessary,” Swanson said.
People from across the political spectrum have alleged that thousands of military voters have been disenfranchised across the country in past elections.
After the 2008 election, U.S. Rep. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., put out a report saying in seven military-heavy states, including Washington, 25 percent of military voters who requested ballots were disenfranchised.
At least for Washington, those numbers are skewed because the state doesn’t use a request system to send out ballots. All the state’s registered voters overseas are mailed a ballot.
In Washington, overseas voters’ turnout was recorded as 73 percent in 2008, less than the 85 percent seen statewide. But 99 percent of those who did vote were counted, according to Reed’s office.
The Defense Department approved waivers for Washington, Delaware, New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, while denying requests from Alaska, Hawaii, Colorado, Wisconsin, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Reed’s office told the Pentagon it would send out ballots by Oct. 3. Since, unlike most states, Washington will accept finished ballots until Nov. 23 as long as they’re signed by Election Day, ballots will have a 51-day window to travel back and forth.
Voters also can get a ballot online, print it off and mail it. State legislation pushed by Reed to allow entirely electronic voting was defeated last winter.
The Legislature moved Washington’s primary one month earlier starting in 2007, but election officials, such as Reed, would like it even earlier, in part to allow more time to send out ballots.
If that doesn’t happen, the controversy could repeat in 2012, when the state would likely seek another waiver.
Jordan Schrader: 360-786-1826
jordan.schrader@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/politics
ROSSI, MURRAY WEIGH IN
U.S. Senate candidate Dino Rossi supports his party’s resolution condemning Secretary of State Sam Reed’s decision, his campaign said. Republicans said Rossi has been out front against a relaxed deadline for sending military ballots.
Rossi said in a statement: “The idea that the brave men and women defending our nation in the far corners of the world would be excluded from participating in one of the fundamental exercises in a free democracy is unacceptable.”
Sen. Patty Murray sided with Reed.
The Democratic senator’s spokeswoman, Julie Edwards, said in a statement: “Senator Murray will do everything possible to ensure our servicemembers have the ability to vote. Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed has stated there is no infringement. Mr. Rossi and his friends are trying to use our servicemembers as political pawns and that’s just wrong.”
Jordan Schrader, staff writer
