Military may be important voting bloc as Pentagon aids troops’ involvement

The Pentagon plans to broadcast the 2008 conventions as the federal government tries to increase election awareness and facilitate absentee voting in the armed forces.

Both the Democratic and Republican conventions will air on the American Forces Network (AFN) for troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and other overseas posts.

{mosads}The efforts come as the presidential contest between Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) tightens and absentee ballots could make a difference to the outcome.

After the economy, the war in Iraq has emerged as arguably the next most important issue in the coming election.

Throughout the campaign, Obama has cast himself as the anti-war candidate, contrasting with McCain’s call to stay in Iraq and finish the mission.

But unlike 2004, when President Bush withstood Sen. John Kerry’s similar anti-war platform to win reelection, Obama’s “change” message appears to be resonating with voters and quite possibly overseas with the troops who have been fighting the Iraq war since 2003.

Though he has never served in uniform, Obama has surprised many by outpacing McCain, a former prisoner of war and decorated Vietnam veteran, in campaign contributions from those in the military serving overseas.

Arrangements for absentee voting, particularly for the military, have been a target of recent criticism. Each state has its own regulations for receiving overseas ballots, and the Pentagon and the federal agency responsible for assisting overseas military voters have been criticized for not clearing up the process.

From Aug. 31 to Sept. 2, the Federal Voting Assistance Program is orchestrating an “Armed Forces Voters Week” to spread the word about overseas absentee voting.

“We will have registration tables at the Pentagon and military installations; overseas organizations will also conduct awareness of absentee voting during this period,” said Pauline Brunelli, director of the Federal Voting Assistance program. “And of course, it will continue all the way up to the election.”

Obama appears to have made a good start with those in uniform. An Aug. 14 analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics showed that Obama received $60,642 from troops overseas during the 2008 election cycle — nearly six times the $10,665 that McCain raised during the same period. Whether stationed abroad or at home, military members have also favored Obama so far by a $55,000 margin, the center found.

Overall, Obama has received 57 percent of military donations to the presumed presidential nominees, the watchdog organization found, even as 59 percent of federal contributions from military personnel have gone to Republicans this cycle.

The Democratic nominee’s apparent impact with military voters is happening four years after Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, endured widely publicized attacks from a small group of veterans. That same year, Bush raised $1.50 from the military for every $1 Kerry raised, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

The Pentagon’s effort to better inform the troops about the election comes just a few weeks after several Republican lawmakers asked the Department of Justice (DoJ) to investigate the agency and its efforts to help the military members overseas exercise their right to vote. A group of 35 lawmakers want the DoJ to determine whether the agency is “fulfilling its legal obligations” in providing service members overseas the necessary resources and information.

Those overseas and in uniform will have a chance to hear both candidates speak at their conventions. The military’s media outlet will carry whatever the U.S. networks broadcast from the convention, said the head of AFN, Melvin Russell. AFN News, for example, switches between news from cable outlets CNN, MSNBC and Fox during a 24-hour period, he said. It will do the same for the convention, as well as tap into the feeds from NBC, ABC and CBS.

Members of the military are not confined to the AFN, but also have access to Internet news and other TV channels, Pentagon officials said.

Out of about 1.4 million men and women on active duty, more than 550,000 are overseas. In Iraq and Afghanistan there are about 180,000.

The key problems with absentee voting for the military have always been time, distance, mobility and access, say voting experts.

Soldiers have to register in their states, request a ballot, receive it, complete it and return it to the appropriate election officials. All this is done by mail in some states. Others, including recently New Jersey, allow ballot papers to be sent out by e-mail to overseas voters, and returned in the same way.

The Federal Voting Assistance Program, which is designed to help members of the military and American citizens overseas, has a redesigned website that allows military personnel to register to vote and request an absentee ballot, but cannot be used to cast votes, said Brunelli.

In places such as Iraq and Afghanistan, one of the concerns was that the accessible computers may not have enough bandwidth to carry that new website and its upgraded features. But Brunelli said it has been tested on computers in the two conflict areas and no problems were found.

It is more complicated for the troops deployed in remote outposts in Iraq and Afghanistan, who must rely a lot more on their own planning to vote.

Those who do not have ready access to mail have to plan ahead and work it out with their states to receive advance absentee ballots.

Of the 119,000 absentee ballots requested by overseas military members in 2006, only about 48 percent were counted, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

As few as 17 percent of overseas service members participated in the 2006 elections, compared with 48 percent of all voters.