The Pentagon’s Federal Voting Assistance program is urging service members to vote as early as possible in the November presidential election due to concerns the coronavirus could impact the delivery of their absentee ballots.
The Washington Examiner reported the coronavirus lockdowns worldwide have slowed the military postal service mail from military bases. And U.S. embassy and consulate shutdowns have impacted diplomatic pouches that help bring mail to the U.S.
“We do see issues with either perceived or real obstacles to the ability for them to vote,” Scott Wiedmann, deputy director of FVAP said.
“Because of the country or region’s response to coronavirus, there have been delays in mail. Ease of voting is an issue for military, and that’s where our job is.”
To help prioritize absentee ballots, a barcode is put on envelopes so that they are treated like express mail, according to the Examiner.
In addition, military post offices advise service members of a safe mail-by date sometime in October to make certain their vote reaches election offices on time.
President Donald Trump has bashed mail-in voting, but has pushed absentee ballots.
Trump had said in April that "absentee ballots are a great way to vote for the many senior citizens, military, and others who can't get to the polls on Election Day."
He had said these ballots are very different from 100% mail-in voting, which he called “ripe for fraud.”
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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