-Caveat Lector-
Navy rushing some ballots back to U.S.
By Scott Schonauer Rota bureau
The Stars and Stripes
ROTA NAVAL STATION, Spain — The Navy is rushing to the United
States a small bundle of absentee ballots that did not get mailed
from ships overseas.
About a dozen of the ballots, most of them from warships that
supported the USS Cole after the Oct. 12 terrorist attack,
arrived back in the States on Thursday, Navy spokeswoman Lt.
Cmdr. Cate Mueller said. Although the Navy does not know the
exact number, a few more ballots were expected to trickle into
the United States Friday by priority mail.
"There’s not very many," Mueller said. "I wouldn’t want to put
this one out of proportion."
The Navy found the ballots after a servicewide search aboard
deployed ships last weekend. The Navy ordered the sweep to make
sure ships did not have ballots that sailors tried to mail out
before the election.
The ballots could be critical in a presidential election so close
that several states are examining vote totals. In Florida,
Republican George W. Bush has a slim lead over Democrat Al Gore.
The winner of the state’s 25 electoral votes will gain an
Electoral College majority and win the presidency.
This week, sailors aboard ships from Japan to the Persian Gulf
sifted through pallets of mail to find any last-minute ballots
sent by sailors. They separated the ballots and mailed them
priority mail in hopes that they would arrive before Friday.
The bulk found came from the USS Tarawa, which was in the Persian
Gulf region helping the USS Cole after a terrorist bomb killed 17
crewmembers, Mueller said.
Ships supporting the crippled Cole, which is being towed to
Mississippi for repairs, did not send some of its mail before
Election Day because of the chaotic attack aftermath.
Problems with absentee ballots overseas have sparked controversy
among Republicans and Democrats.
Some military personnel have complained that they had problems
either sending their ballots or receiving requested ballots.
U.S. Rep. Joe Scarborough, a Republican from Pensacola, Fla.,
has called for an investigation of reports that servicemembers
were not able to vote because of delays in receiving absentee
ballots.
In a Nov. 8 letter to House Armed Services Committee Chairman
Floyd Spence, Scarborough said some servicemembers failed to
receive absentee ballots, even though they requested them.
"Men and women in the military have every right to vote on who
their next commander-in-chief will be," Scarborough wrote. "If
something was done to inhibit their ability to vote, the public
has a right to know."
So far, less than a dozen people have come forward.
Scarborough’ secretary, Mick Serrano, said five people have
called the congressman’s office and reported problems. Six other
servicemembers overseas also have complained, according to an
Armed Services Committee staff member who did want to give his
name.
In the 18 years that Army Lt. Col. Frank E. Shields Jr. has
been voting absentee, he can’t recall having a problem receiving
or sending an overseas ballot.
"I’ve always gotten ballots from them in a very timely way," said
Shields, who said he voted for Bush. "I’m pretty pleased with
the process."
Shields, who runs the logistics assistance office for the Army
Materiel Command in Wiesbaden, Germany, said he stays in regular
contact with voting officials in Escambia County, Florida, which
is in Scarborough’s district. Whenever he gets reassigned to a
new Army post, Shields informs the county office of his change of
address.
Armed with the information he provides them, Escambia County
officials often don’t wait to hear from Shields when an election
rolls around. They know he wants to vote, he said.
Stars and Stripes reporter Kevin Dougherty contributed to this
story.
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Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
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