Julian Bond: “It is well recognized that mail sent from families and loved ones to U.S. forces based overseas has a tangible effect on…”

“It is well recognized that mail sent from families and loved ones to U.S. forces based overseas has a tangible effect on troop morale. Concomitantly, mail that is delayed unnecessarily undermines morale and furthermore endangers the ability of absentee military voters to have their votes counted. Additionally, voting assistance programs that are ineffective undermine the ability of the absentee military voter to cast a vote. In an effort to improve these respective programs I have encouraged the Department of Defense to evaluate the effectiveness of the Military Postal Service Agency and the Voting Assistance Program to determine if these programs are sufficient in scope to resolve the problems that have been identified repeatedly in past reports and audits.”