MILITARY VOTING HOW-TO
MILITARY VOTING HOTLINE
Have you had trouble voting or making sure your vote is counted? Do you know anyone who has? Let us know your experiences so we can take action. Call us or contact us using the form below.
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WE ARE ON YOUR SIDE
Protect Military Votes is a project of the American Constitutional Rights Union designed to encourage military voting and ensure all votes cast by members of the United States military and their family members are counted—and honored.
The mission of Protect Military Votes, a project of American Constitutional Rights Union, is to protect the votes of those protecting us.
There have been numerous cases of military ballots mishandled by local election officials, and we believe these votes should be honored with the highest level of efficiency and integrity.
The goal of Protect Military Votes is to:
The Federal Voting Assistance Program reports that 22% of active-duty military personnel wished to vote but experienced barriers to voting.
About three-quarters of the 1.3 million active-duty military members are eligible to vote absentee with special protections because they’re stationed away from their voting residence.
VOTING INFORMATION
VOTER BILL OF RIGHTS
As former members of the U.S. military who have proudly served our nation, we express our support for Constitutional freedom and liberty. We also pledge to continue to fight to protect the integrity of our most cherished civil right — free and fair elections.
The mission of Protect Military Votes, a project of American Constitutional Rights Union, is to protect the votes of those protecting us. Visit the Committee to Support and Defend — the nation’s only constitutional conservative military and veterans support organization to learn more.
WHY WE FIGHT
When a citizen leaves home and family to risk all fighting for our freedoms, they shouldn’t have to worry about whether their vote will be counted. The shocking reality is that our service members abroad face obstacles that hinder their basic right to vote. From difficulty getting absentee ballots, to processes that bring into question whether their vote will even be counted, our military personnel struggle to do what we at home take for granted.
“Nowhere is the right to vote more sacred than when it resides in the hands of America’s warfighters. It is the responsibility of all citizens and government officials to ensure every military ballot is sent and received and each military vote properly counted. As the men and women of the U.S. military protect us here and abroad, we must protect their voices in the political process.”
Hon. Kenneth Blackwell, Former Secretary of State (Ohio), ACRU Action Board of Directors
“I have fought to defend our great Republic on the battlefield alongside great patriots. Now it is time for us to defend the fundamental rights of all soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines to cast their votes for those who would lead our nation. We must ensure that local election officials give every member of the military the opportunity to vote in a timely manner, in accordance with federal laws. We must protect military votes.”
LTC Allen B. West (US Army, Retired), Member, 112th US Congress
“I recognize that getting the ballots out on time requires a special effort by the Local Election Official (LEO). I submit that this is a small accommodation to make to facilitate the enfranchisement of the brave young men and women who are away from home and prepared to lay down their lives in defense of our country. Were it not for the sacrifices of military personnel, from the American Revolution to the Global War on Terrorism, none of us would have the opportunity to vote in free elections.”
Samuel F. Wright, Captain, JAGC, USN (Ret.)
Military Voting Issues in the News
Hans von Spakovsky: Election audits should be required in every state after every election
Financial audits are standard practice in the business world. Election audits also should be standard practice in every state after every election. Audits would determine whether the election was administered honestly, fairly, accurately and in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. Yet audits of election agencies, procedures and systems are almost nonexistent in America. The very concept of comprehensive election audits has been criticized and opposed by some election officials and even by the current U.S. Department of Justice.
Allen West: Protecting Democracy From the Democrats
Let me first begin by stating that America is not a democracy; it is a constitutional republic. Matter of fact, in Article IV, Section 4 of our Constitution, known as the "Guarantee Clause," the federal government is supposed to guarantee to every State in the Union a "Republican form of government." Now, that does not mean a Republican party, but rather the form of governance associated with that of a Republic. As you recall, Benjamin Franklin when asked what form of government the founders created, replied "a republic, if you can keep it."
Hans von Spakovsky: This Supreme Court Ruling Will Prove Vital to Defending Voter ID
The Supreme Court’s important ruling last week on voter ID in North Carolina has been overlooked in the fervor over the high court’s spot-on decisions upholding the Second Amendment and religious freedom and overruling Roe v. Wade. But the court’s procedural decision Thursday in Berger v. NAACP will help prevent state officials from sabotaging the defense of state election laws and other measures being attacked by their political allies and friends.
Von Spakovsky: The Fraud that Dare Not Speak its Name
Dinesh D’Souza’s new documentary, 2,000 Mules, raises serious questions about possible skullduggery in the 2020 election, involving absentee ballots across multiple states. But neither the liberal media, nor election officials, nor law enforcement seem to have much interest in investigating that potential wrongdoing. The reaction has largely boiled down to “nothing to see here!” or else to so-called “fact checks” that criticize the technology used to analyze the problems the film documents, rather than actually use the information D’Souza presents to investigate the credibility of the claims being made.
Von Spakovsky: Latest Cases of Election Fraud Underline Need for Vigilance and Action
Election integrity continues to be an important issue to citizens across the country, regardless of their political affiliation. While many politicians on the left continue to downplay the issue of election fraud to the dismay of their constituents, threats to free and fair elections continue at an alarming rate,
Allen West: No More Tolerating the Intolerant
When tolerance becomes a one way street, it leads to cultural suicide -- Col. Allen West I have shared the aforementioned quote often, mainly when addressing the scourge of Islamic jihadism and terrorism in the West. However, there is a clear and present reason to apply this same quote to present day America and the scourge of progressive socialism.
Allen West: To Support and Defend…
I pray everyone had a truly blessed Resurrection weekend; that is what this past weekend was about. It was about one person, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, laying down His life for us to have eternal life. Last week I was honored to narrate Haydn's string quartet, The Last Seven Words of Christ on the Cross. It was humbling to read and explain the meaning of Christ's final words spoken from the cross.As well, this weekend allowed me to reflect back on some other words, four of which are the title of this missive. They are words that some men and women have vowed over the years in America. They are the words that have committed these Americans to sacrifice and perhaps make the last full measure of devotion—to give their lives--so that others can have life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Wisconsin and Pennsylvania Supreme Courts Set to Rule on Voting Laws
The Supreme Courts in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania will hear cases involving voting laws the states implemented ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
ACRUs Blackwell: DeSantis is right: A state election crimes agency will make elections more secure
The Left and their liberal media allies love to point to the low number of election crimes prosecuted as proof that there is little to no voter fraud. They claim these low figures prove we have secure elections and that we do not need election integrity reforms.There is one major problem with this argument. Far too often, county election supervisors refer election crimes to county prosecutors, and these referrals gather dust. Prosecuting election crimes requires resources, time, and expertise of election law that most local county prosecutors do not have. Prosecutors also face political pressure to not prosecute election crime cases.
ACRU Amicus Brief Supports Supreme Court Arizona Voting Integrity Policy Win
With the recent successful filibuster blocking Senate consideration of the so-called “For the People Act,” the Supreme Court’s decision in Brnovich takes on added importance. By reversing the Ninth Circuit’s decision, as The ACRU argued it should, Arizona’s race-neutral, generally applicable election rules limiting out-of-precinct voting and ballot harvesting will stand without any danger of preemption by federal statute.
ACRU’s Blackwell: Baseball strikes out on protecting American voters
ACRU's Ken Blackwell is a shareholder of the Cincinnati Reds, and has a wonderful family association with the history of black baseball. In this interview on Chicago's The Answer radio program, he gives his view on the MLB moving the All Star game away from the workers of Atlanta based on the lie that the Georgia voting law is racist. Vote safety laws protect ALL voters of every race.
ACRU’s Blackwell: MLB commissioner ‘didn’t do his homework’: Cincinnati Reds minority owner [VIDEO]
ACRU Policy Board Member Amb. notes that the MLB ought the lie that GA voting laws are "suppressive" and caused a $100M "catastrophe" for Atlanta's economy and African American community when it moved the All Star game. Ken explains vote safety measures protect ALL VOTERS--including minority voters.
Army spouse: the practical realities of overseas military voting must be simplified
Military voting is of critical importance to Armed Forces command. But like any bureaucracy, execution can be overly cumbersome and confusing. Army spouse Tracey Miller examines the complexities of military voting (from personal experience) noting that instructions like, “fold this piece of paper and make it into an envelope” are confusing and serve as a barrier to military voting. Our service members shouldn’t have to haul around scissors, tape and extra paper in election years.
Military votes could be key in Georgia’s January 5th Senate runoffs
The United States Senate, and perhaps our very Constitutional liberties, depends on the outcome of the Georgia Senate elections — unique in that the state’s two Senate seats are in play at the same time. The Georgia Secretary of State is currently sending out absentee ballots to Georgia residents posted in the military overseas, or at other US bases. We encourage all Georgian members of the Armed Forces to complete and return their absentee ballots as soon as they are received.
Absentee ballot recipients worry they may have been drafted
Civilian voters in Queens got quite a surprise when they received military absentee ballots. Once again, we see absentee ballot errors corroding vote integrity. The only way to ensure your vote is counted is to Vote In Person.
FBI finds 9 discarded Trump military mail-in ballots in PA
ACRU President Lori Roman addresses importance on our Protect Military Votes project after military ballots found discarded in Pennsylvania.
Groundbreaking National Voter Roll Study Reveals Alarming Trends as States Prepare to Vote by Mail
Our colleagues at PILF have performed an extensive nationwide study and found U.S. voter rolls are full of errors, deceased voters and duplicate registrations. They found nearly half a million problems -- how many remain undiscovered?
Democrat Michigan Secretary of State Misprints Trump Ticket on Ballots for Troops
The Michigan secretary of state misprinted the Trump line on ballots intended to be mailed to troops serving overseas, the Detroit News reported.
Encouraging and protecting military votes is a civilian imperative
It is the responsibility of all Americans to ensure the votes of Armed Forces members away from home arrive on time and are properly counted. The time is NOW for service members to register to vote and request an absentee ballot. Registration links are included in the article.
How Absentee Voting for US Troops Won the Civil War and Ended Slavery
We found this wonderful historical story about soldiers’ votes tipping the 1864 election to Lincoln when Democrats were ready to give in to the Confederacy. The win resulted in freedom for America’s slaves and the preservation of the Union after Lincoln’s Secretary of War devised the first plan for military absentee voting. At ACRU, we are as passionate about the sanctity of military vote as was Sec. Stanton. You CAN help … we hope you will visit our Protect Military Votes website to find out how.
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SIGN THE MILITARY VOTING RIGHTS PETITION
Join the fight to protect the voting rights of our military service men and women. Far too many military votes are not counted – and you can help.
Sign our petition to show Congress and state governments that we won’t rest until every service member has easy access to voting and that each military vote is counted.
Thank you for your support!