Wayne Allard: “the bad taste left in everyone's mouth after the Florida election debacle is certainly strongest in those who had their…”

“the bad taste left in everyone's mouth after the Florida election debacle is certainly strongest in those who had their franchise questioned while, incredibly, they were away serving our country. Military men and women are forced to give up some opportunities during their military service that the rest of us can still enjoy. They surrender some of the freedom of speech, privacy and personnel liberty that we take for granted. But losing their right to vote is never something they agreed to face, and never something we should allow them to face. The bill I am introducing today with Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, the Military Voter Support Act, enhances the voting ability of absentee military voters in six key ways. This bill will help us ensure that we will not see the repeat of campaign lawyers scrutinizing military ballots in a partisan attempt to silence their voice. I know that I was not the only one who felt outrage over this. My office received a flood of calls and letters from Colorado citizens equally upset. I hope this bill proves to our uniformed voters that we not only value their service, we value their voice, and we value their right to vote. The language applies to service members, their spouses, and voting age dependents who are necessarily absentee with them. The bill prohibits a state from disqualifying a ballot based upon lack of postmark or witness signature alone--this was the basis for most absentee ballot challenges in Florida.”