Military Still Fighting Absentee Ballot Snags

Seven months before the general election, the Pentagon has not fixed military absentee ballot problems that were pivotal in the disputed 2000 presidential contest, according to the Defense Department’s inspector general.

Although the Air Force has the most effective system for aiding military voters overseas, “several problems identified in our reports after the 2000 and 2002 elections continued to exist in 2003 for all the services,” the agency said in a report released Wednesday.

The report by Shelton R. Young, director of readiness and logistics support in the Defense Department’s inspector general’s office, called for changes to the duties and training of voting assistance officers. It said nearly six of every 10 troops interviewed didn’t know who their voting officers were.

Advocates for overseas military voters urged the Pentagon to make changes before it was too late for the 2004 election.

“I think this election is going to be as close as 2000, and it might make a lot of difference again,” said Sam Wright, director of the Military Voting Rights Project.

Wright maintains the only solution is an Internet voting system. However, the Pentagon scrapped a $22-million Internet voting experiment this year after computer experts said it was vulnerable to attacks.

Sen. Christopher S. Bond (R-Mo.) wrote Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld last week and asked him to help fix the problem. He said Wednesday that he and Rumsfeld talked about the issue Friday.

“Having these people who put their lives on the line every day have a chance to participate is not an insignificant thing,” Bond said.