Rendell says he'll seek more time for overseas military voters

[Freddie Stubbs]

MARK SCOLFORO

Associated Press


HARRISBURG, Pa. - Under intense pressure from military voters and Republicans, Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell said Friday that he will ask a federal judge to extend the deadline for counting overseas military and civilian ballots by one week.

Rendell told a news conference in Philadelphia that Republicans could only produce one voter - out of 26,000 overseas military and civilian voters - who failed to get the absentee ballot he requested.

Nonetheless, "Even if it's just one or two votes, their votes should be counted," Rendell said.

A Republican-financed federal lawsuit by two servicemen in Iraq and Kuwait filed Wednesday against Rendell and Secretary of State Pedro Cortes seeks a 15-day extension for their ballots' return. One of the plaintiffs lives in Venango County, where records show that 131 of the 134 overseas ballots mailed out have already come back to the elections office.

more: http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/local/10042307.htm

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. Big question:

If our military can force soldiers to stand near ground zero and serve as guinea pigs for nuclear tests, can they also rationalize stealing their votes?

[flobee1kenobi]

3. After all the crap they have pulled...

they have the nerve to cry about having "all their votes counted"?
and they think its going to come from the military they sacrificed for profit?

[bleedingheart]

2. The conservative talk show idiots have been spouting that thousands

have been disenfranchised...and yet only a few have not gotten ballots...and I wonder....

This is all a ruse to give a Kerry landslide less of an edge.

[RivetJoint]

4. Rendell made a good call

Now the Repubes have to shut up about this.

[auburngrad82]

5. why has this never been an issue before

National presidential elections have happened every four years for 200 years now. Why all of a sudden is it so hard to get absentee ballots to people in time for them to vote and return them?