According to the Washington Times:
In the closing days of the 106th Congress, unspecified Democratic senators broke a previous commitment to allow unanimous consent for Republican-sponsored legislation that would permit the United States armed forces to allow voting booths on stateside military installations.
Just as Congress was preparing to quit for the year, in preparation for the year-end holidays and the advent of the opening of the new Congress early next year, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., received word that the agreement for unanimous consent he had negotiated with Democrats back in October was going to be blown.
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said although he would support the bill, some Democrats, whom he did not name, would rise to protest its passage by unanimous consent.
An objection to the military voting-booth bill this late in the game would have subjected it to extensive debate, effectively killing it for this session.
So Lott opted not to bring up for unanimous passage on the floor of the Senate the bill that had already passed the House of Representatives, 297-114.
Instead, he and other congressional Republicans promised to make it a feature of a much-broader package of Republican-sponsored election reforms early in the 107th Congress.
Said one GOP Senate aide: "I think we are going to have an emphasis on election reform, not campaign finance reform."
Sponsored by Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., the bill was designed to make it easier for service members to vote by allowing, not requiring, the three armed services to authorize polling places on domestic installations.
It was aimed primarily at remote bases where personnel and their families have to travel considerable distances to the nearest polling location.
Objections given by Democrats were that legislation already existed allowing existing military polling places to remain open for the 2000 election, most members of the armed forces cast absentee ballots by mail and the Clinton-Gore administration fears voting booths could politicize non-partisan military bases.
The Defense Department's general counsel, Douglas A. Dworkin, a political appointee of the Clinton-Gore administration, strongly opposed the GOP legislation:
"The department has a long-standing policy prohibiting the use of military installations as polling sites for elections.
"This policy is based on sound public policy of maintaining strict separation between the military and the political process.
"The policy of separating the military and partisan politics is critically important to maintaining public support for and confidence in our armed forces, as well as maintaining good order and discipline within military ranks."
In response, the bill's author, along with House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Stump, R-Ariz., and House Armed Services Chairman Floyd D. Spence, R-S.C., wrote to Defense Secretary William S. Cohen:
"Allowing and even encouraging people to exercise their right to vote does not involve [the] military in 'partisan politics' as the general counsel alleges.
"In fact, we are surprised that any DoD counsel would make such an argument in view of DoD's active and well-regarded voter-assistance program."
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