Senate Passes Cornyn Legislation To Protect Military Voters

Press Release

Senate Passes Cornyn Legislation To Protect Military Voters

Effort to Ensure Every Military Vote Counts Wins Unanimous Bipartisan Approval

In an important victory for service members serving abroad, the Senate late last night unanimously passed a critical military voting measure authored by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-TX, that would make needed, common-sense improvements to our outdated military voting system. Two weeks ago, it was thought that this legislation would not move forward after it was not adopted during consideration of the annual Defense Authorization bill, but Senator Cornyn, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, succeeded in pushing it through as a stand-alone measure last night after securing strong bipartisan approval.

"America was built on the values of democracy, fairness and freedom. It is unacceptable that many of the men and women serving to defend those values on the front lines of the war on terror are being denied one of our nation's most basic and cherished rights," Sen. Cornyn said. "The Military Voting Protection Act (MVP) would take several steps to significantly improve the process of delivering military absentee ballots from overseas to ensure every vote matters. Our servicemen and women deserve nothing less as they sacrifice daily to protect our safety, security and freedoms. The Senate's unanimous approval of this legislation represents a very important step forward in our fight to strengthen voting rights for our military. I hope the House will follow the Senate's lead and approve this bill before Congress adjourns."

U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-22), who has introduced a companion measure in the House, said, "On the eve of this historic presidential election, I commend Senator Cornyn's leadership in carrying the MVP Act through the Senate, fighting for those brave military men and women who are fighting for us and our freedoms. I will continue to work hard to convince House leaders to follow the Senate's lead to fight for our brave men and women, and pass the MVP Act."

"Our men and women deserve the government's very best efforts to give them the opportunity to participate in our democratic process, and I will not be satisfied until I see a process in place that gives all eligible uniformed voters a reasonable opportunity to vote," Sen. Cornyn concluded.

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