McCarthy Urges Justice Department to Ensure Overseas Service Members Receive Ballots | Representative Kevin McCarthy
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McCarthy Urges Justice Department to Ensure Overseas Service Members Receive Ballots

October 15, 2010
Press Release

Washington D.C.– Today, in light of recent reports of some states' widespread failure to comply with requirements that military and overseas ballots were mailed by September 18th, Congressman McCarthy led an effort to ensure our troops' votes are counted. House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Buck McKeon (CA-25) and House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lamar Smith (TX-21) joined Congressman McCarthy in sending a letter to Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez urging the Department of Justice to enforce the law and have delayed ballots be sent as quickly as possible through express delivery. Congressman McCarthy issued the following statement:

"Congress has worked hard and with excellent bipartisan cooperation to help our service members and overseas voters have their ballots counted. That is why seeing states like Illinois and New York ignore the law, and learning that the Department of Justice only belatedly and reluctantly is acting to enforce it, is infuriating. In order to ensure that our overseas servicemen and servicewomen are not disenfranchised, I urge the Justice Department to work with the Department of Defense and election officials to send ballots by express delivery to ensure they are sent and received in time to be counted."

Related:

Attached: McCarthy letter to the Department of Justice
Overseas service members who have not received ballots can check the Federal Voting Assistance Program web site (www.fvap.gov) for assistance obtaining a ballot electronically.

Background:

As a freshman, Congressman McCarthy, the highest ranking Republican on the House Administration Subcommittee on Elections, first introduced the Military Voting Protection Act (MVP) in the 110th Congress. Although it gained bipartisan support, it was never scheduled for a vote on the House floor by House Democratic leaders. In the 111th Congress, Congressman McCarthy again introduced the bipartisan Military Voting Protection Act of 2009 (H.R. 2393) in May 2009 with Congressman Dan Boren (D-OK). In June 2009, the House Administration Committee approved the Military Voting Protection Act of 2009. President Obama signed H.R. 2647 into law, which included provisions from the bipartisan MVP Act that will further help to protect overseas military voting.