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Press Release
For Immediate Release
October 24, 2008 |
Contact: Jon Houston, (202) 225-7944 |
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Maloney bill would have prevented Fairfax military absentee ballot snafu |
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Technical violations of election law such as those
causing hundreds of military absentee ballots to be disqualified in
Fairfax County, VA would not be grounds for rejection under a bill
introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney last year.
“The only standard for rejecting an absentee ballot should be actual fraud,” Maloney said. “If a voter has registered and is on the rolls, has requested a ballot by the deadline, and has returned a marked ballot by the deadline, then that ballot should be counted.”
“Missing a witness signature, the cause being used by the Fairfax clerk, would not be an acceptable reason to disqualify an overseas absentee ballot under H.R. 4237,” Maloney said.
“I will redouble my efforts in the next Congress to address this vital issue of enfranchisement of overseas and military absentee ballots. It’s beyond ironic that the men and women fighting to protect our way of life can’t have their votes count due to bureaucratic fine print,” she concluded.
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