Cornyn Urges Justice Department To Protect Military Voters, Highlights Military Voting Protection Act

Cornyn Urges Justice Department To Protect Military Voters, Highlights Military Voting Protection Act

Will press for vote this week on legislation that takes significant steps to ensure all eligible voters have the opportunity to vote

At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing today, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, called on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to increase efforts to protect military voters. In turn, he made clear his commitment to ensure the department has the resources and tools necessary to carry out this effort.

Sen. Cornyn participated in the hearing, titled "Protecting the Right to Vote: Oversight of the Department of Justice's Preparations for the 2008 General Election" that examined the DOJ's preparations for the 2008 election, including how the department is specifically working to reach out to overseas military service members and ensure their votes are counted. He heard testimony from former Marine Corps Voting Assistance Officer Bryan P. O'Leary, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the DOJ Civil Rights Division Grace Chung Becker, Deputy Assistant Attorney General with the DOJ Criminal Division Barry Sabin, and others.

Sen. Cornyn also followed up on a letter he sent to Attorney General Mukasey in August asking the DOJ to investigate the potential disenfranchisement of thousands of military service members during recent and upcoming elections. In addition, he renewed his push to pass his legislation to help overseas troops who are forced to vote via absentee ballot - the Military Voting Protection Act, or MVP Act, which will likely be offered as an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill this week.

"According to the United States Election Assistance Commission, only 5.5 percent of the total eligible military and overseas citizen voters were able to cast a ballot in the November 2006 election. It is unacceptable that many of the men and women in uniform are being denied one of our nation's most basic and cherished civil rights. The Military Voting Protection Act, or MVP Act, would take several steps to significantly improve the process of delivering military absentee ballots to ensure every vote matters. Our men and women in uniform make tremendous sacrifices in the defense of freedom, and they deserve the government's very best efforts to give them the opportunity to participate in our democratic process. Our troops must be given a voice in choosing our elected leaders, whose decisions often impact them in a very direct and personal way.

"I appreciated the opportunity to hear from the experts about the Department of Justice's current efforts on behalf of our uniformed military and, more alarmingly, where our current absentee voting system has failed these Americans, who serve bravely each and every day in the defense of our freedom. There is much more work to be done to ensure every military service member gets his or her vote counted. Today's hearing shed additional light on the problem, and I plan to see that both the Department of Justice and the Department of Defense increase their efforts to protect military voters. That's why I'm planning on introducing the MVP Act as an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill. I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting this important effort, which would bring us a step closer to providing our troops with a workable and reliable system for voting when their military service takes them away from their hometowns. I will not be satisfied until I see a process in place that gives all eligible uniformed voters a reasonable opportunity to vote."

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