WP: 80% of Military Voted or Tried To (in 2004)

[DeepModem Mom]

80% of Military Voted or Tried To
Pentagon Cites Simpler Absentee Balloting, More Outreach
By Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writer


....Voter participation among members of the U.S. military reached an all-time high in 2004, reflecting a streamlined absentee balloting process and increased outreach efforts, Defense Department officials said.

Nearly 80 percent of people in the uniformed armed services voted or attempted to vote in the last presidential election, according to a survey by the Federal Voting Assistance Program, which is supervised by the Pentagon. The 2004 participation rate reflected an increase of 10 percentage points from 2000 and was far higher than last year's rate for the general public, which was 64 percent.

The increased participation coincided with efforts by both political parties to reach out to service members, who number more than 1.4 million. The participation survey -- the 17th such report -- included responses from more than 29,000 people but did not ask how people voted or for party affiliation.

The survey's estimates of voter participation do not indicate turnout but instead include overall estimates of those who voted absentee, voted in person or attempted to vote in the 2004 elections. For example, while 79 percent of those in the uniformed services participated in some way, 73 percent voted successfully.

Between 2000 and 2004, the Defense Department made determined efforts to ensure that all service members were aware of their opportunities to vote, whether they were stationed in the United States or deployed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Officials also tried to work with local jurisdictions to allow for electronic absentee balloting and allowed citizens to access an online application from a computer at any location....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/06/AR2005120601556.html

[Darkhawk32]

1. And they STILL don't mention the breakdown of the vote... n/t

[roseBudd]

2. I have yet to see the numbers on the military vote that the GOP never

trumpeted.

[LA lady]

4. I don't know how valid but:

http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-383722.php

"President Bush retains overwhelming support among the military’s professional core despite a troubled mission in Iraq and an opponent who is a decorated combat veteran, a Military Times survey of more than 4,000 readers indicates.
Bush leads Democratic Sen. John Kerry 73 percent to 18 percent in the voluntary survey of 4,165 active-duty, National Guard and reserve subscribers to Army Times, Navy Times, Marine Corps Times and Air Force Times."

[EFerrari]

9. "professional core" = officers. And who knows how

that survey was conducted. I don't believe it for a minute.

If it were true, the Thuggery would have nailed John Kerry about the head and ears with it. They did not.

[pocket]

11. "professional core" = noncoms, too

.

[EFerrari]

12. That's right. n/t

[Sydnie]

3. so 6 % of our military couldn't figure out the ballots or procedure

or they just know for sure that that 6% voted for Kerry so they threw them out? What the hell does that mean ... only "73% voted successfully"?

[Straight Shooter]

5. I would also like to know about that mysterious unsuccessful 6% percent

That's a lot of votes. And if there were 6% in the military who were "unsuccessful," what does that say about the general voting population in the United States who aren't military? How many of us were unsuccessful?

[Sydnie]

6. I can't wrap my mind around the term "unsucessful" in this context

What the hell does that mean? It's an absentee ballot so there would be no hanging chads, it's a mark on paper for god sakes! It couldn't have been bad ID's could it? It couldn't be that they were felons could it? Could it be that they didn't transport them in time to be counted properly?

I want to know what that term means in this context.

[nickgutierrez]

7. The phrase "or tried to" in the OP caught my eye.

Reminds me of my own experience, actually - absentee ballot didn't get to me until a week after the election. Maybe that's what happened here.

[stanwyck]

8. My son's very unofficial

poll, taken during his first tour in Iraq, was that his fellow Marines were over whelmingly not supportive of Bush.
I've been very curious to see the military voting breakdown. You know it has to be bad for Bush if it hasn't been trumpeted on Faux News.

[4MoreYearsOfHell]

10. You know they would lie anyway (nt)