Hundreds of Military Ballots in One County Alone Were Not Delivered Until After Florida Deadline

WASHINGTON, Wednesday, November 29, 2000 — U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL) has received reports this morning indicating hundreds of military absentee ballots were delivered to Florida voting officials after the deadline and too late to be tabulated in the presidential tally.

"The further we dig into this issue, the worse it looks," notes Bachus. Bachus is already co-sponsoring legislation addressing the growing absentee ballot scandal in the Florida election tally.

"Election officials report approximately 200 military absentee ballots that were received in Escambia County, Florida alone were delivered after the ten day deadline. They remain unopened, untabulated and untouched," Bachus says. "That clearly indicates that a major failure in the Defense Department delivery system denied these U.S. military men and women serving overseas their rightful voice in the election of their next commander-in-chief."

Bachus began a probe of the military absentee ballot issue after constituents with relatives serving in the Persian Gulf – in reaction to the terrorist bombing of the USS Cole – told of bags of absentee ballots remaining on ships and unposted several days after the election. Pentagon spokesmen concede that an undetermined number of ballots on those ships were not picked up for posting for a full week or more after election day. It was the Defense Department's obligation to transport the military absentee ballots from the ships to postal centers in the United States.

The report from Escambia County election officials indicates the undelivered military absentee ballot problem may be far greater than has been realized to date. Defense Department officials met yesterday to discuss the overall military absentee ballot chaos in the election and announced they are planning a probe.

Over 1,000 military absentee ballots have already been challenged and rejected by Gore campaign lawyers on legal technicalities. The Escambia ballots that were not even delivered in time to meet the deadline are in addition to those challenged and rejected votes.

Bachus is co-sponsoring military absentee ballot legislation to confront the issue.

"There were convicted criminals – felons – whose votes were allowed to count in Florida's presidential tally, even though felons are denied voting rights under the law. Yet honorable U.S. military men and women serving their country overseas – many in harm's way – were denied that same right. That is more than outrageous," Bachus says, "it is a scandal."

Bachus says the military absentee ballot issue goes far beyond partisan politics. "It's a question of basic democracy," Bachus notes. "Anyone who would prevent military personnel from having their voice in the nation's political process heard – whether through carelessness, neglect or some sort of partisan political scam – is utterly beneath contempt. Congress needs to act now to determine the full story and then act expeditiously to correct the problem, deal with those responsible and then proceed to make certain these votes are included in the final result."