(I want to get this one in before new polls reflecting the landslide triggered by Kerry’s Knockout win in tonight’s debate, render it all Moot… Loy’s Law: Election problems never occur when it isn’t Close… :)
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According to both the humble Associated Press and the exalted New York Times, the ballots for eligible Americans Abroad (some 500,000 military and 4 million civilian) are becoming a problem.

Gee. Ya think?

Hey — add it to the lawyers’ ammo pouch. It’s all good. :)

Excerpts - emphases & [> commentary <] added:

A.P. -

…Americans living overseas did not have the right to vote in U.S. presidential elections until 1975…

Some 7 million Americans live abroad. Those 18 and older are entitled to have their absentee votes counted in the state where they last lived — no matter how long ago that was…

[> Yeah but see re Adam Hess, 26, in the NYT piece excerpt below…<]

Getting ballots into the hands of Americans overseas can be a problem; federal officials say they should be mailed out 45 days ahead of the Nov. 2 election. But the key battleground states of Washington and Oregon are already late or running into problems. Washington’s ballots aren’t expected to go to overseas voters until the week of Oct. 10. And Oregon, which mailed 10,000 overseas ballots by Sept. 18, must send out new ones because the Supreme Court ruled Ralph Nader’s name could not be included.

[> That was the SC of OR of course. Ralph, ever the champion of the voters’ rights, is appealing to SCOTUS. Should he win, another new ballot goes out. Presumably with an insert reading, “Oh. Never mind.” <]

In Florida, the state Division of Elections said absentee ballots had been mailed to all Florida overseas voters. Florida counties had a deadline of Sept. 18, except in some counties hard hit by the string of hurricanes, but ballots have been mailed to all voters by now.

Wisconsin sent blank ballots to overseas voters in August. But a second round of regular ballots normally sent out about a month before election day have yet to be printed. The state Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments Monday on whether Nader should be included on the ballot; a lower court judge ruled that he should not…

… The Washington-based Democrats Abroad had 30 overseas chapters in 2000 and now has a presence in 73 countries, including an Iraq chapter called “Donkeys in the Desert.”…

Eric Ossemig, a 38-year-old ex-Army soldier from Flagstaff, Ariz., is asking Malaysians to chose Bush or Kerry over the Internet, and says he’ll cast his absentee ballot for whomever they choose…“I’m not voting my vote, I’m voting Malaysia’s vote.”

And - NYT (even more Extensive excerpts, because a NYT election piece ALWAYS deserves it :) -

…Election officials concede that tens of thousands of Americans overseas might not get ballots in time to cast votes. Late primaries and legal wrangling [> aka: Nader <] caused election offices in at least 8 of the 15 swing states to fail to mail absentee ballots by Sept. 19, a cutoff date officials say is necessary to ensure that they can be returned on time, a survey by The New York Times shows. In Florida in 2000, late-arriving ballots became a divisive issue when some were counted and others were disqualified.

The tardy ballots are just one of several setbacks or missteps that have affected the ability of the estimated 4.4 million eligible voters overseas to participate in the presidential election. Some have been unable to send their registrations to a Pentagon contractor’s computers, which are clogged by thousands of voter forms. Others were denied access to a Web site designed to help Americans abroad vote. And many voters simply have had trouble navigating the rules and methods that determine how and when to register and vote and that vary by state…

…To help speed the balloting process, federal officials activated a new system last week in which voters can obtain absentee ballots instantly through the Internet. But the Web site, myballot.mil, will be offered only to members of the military and their families, quickly raising concerns about fairness in a program that the Pentagon has been directed to run for civilians as well. In addition, 23 states have already declined to join the system for various reasons, including security, according to Pentagon and state officials.

People on both sides vying for the overseas vote say the balloting system remains so flawed that some predict legal battles if these votes prove crucial to the outcome of the presidential race…

[> Gee. Ya think? <]

"There is no favoritism," said Scott Wiedmann, the program's deputy director, adding that the new system must be limited to the military because the identities only of service members can be verified.

…election volunteers working overseas say that many voters do not know the ballots exist, or if they do, do not know how to use them.

Republicans and Democrats are pushing hard to solicit these voters after some assessments indicating that President Bush’s support among the estimated 500,000 members of the military and their families overseas may have weakened…

…last month, a Zogby poll of Americans who had passports found that they supported John Kerry over Mr. Bush, 58 percent to 35 percent.

…the newly formed United States Election Assistance Commission… found that 18 states did not have systems in place to mail ballots at least 45 days before the election. A commissioner, Paul DeGregorio, said in an interview that states with late primaries did not have enough time to turn around and send out their ballots overseas.

Of the eight swing states that missed the 45-day mailing mark, only three will accept ballots that arrive after Election Day. Overseas voters have until Nov. 10 to send their ballots to Florida…

…some voters say the Web site remains difficult to use and that program workers have provided wrong information. Adam Hess, 26, a marketing coordinator in Ottawa, said he was told that he could not vote because he has never lived in the United States; he later learned that was not true since he received his citizenship through his American father.

[> But you see, the Overseas Citizens Voting Rights Act calls for the ballot applicant to apply to his last U.S. State of residence, for his civilian Overseas Ballot for the State office of Presidential Elector — which will also allow him to vote for US Representative and (if it’s Up in said state) US Senator. So you see, Adam, 26, may yet have more to Learn: since he’s never resided here, to whom does he apply, for Which ballot? <] …

After blocking Internet systems in more than two dozen countries from gaining access to the general Web site, the Pentagon retreated last week and says it is trying to find a less encumbering way to protect against hackers.

[> Here comes the inevitable “Halliburton!” part, now…< ]

…New questions have also arisen about the private contractor hired by the Pentagon to handle these faxes and unsealed completed ballots at its offices in Alexandria, Va. The company, Omega Technologies, was sued last year by Adams National Bank, which accused it of failing to pay off a loan of more than $500,000. In court records the bank also said Omega improperly gained access to a Pentagon computer to reroute payments to the company’s new lender.

A lawyer for Omega, Daryle Jordan, denied wrongdoing by Omega and said it had countersued in contesting the debt claim. Pentagon officials said they were not aware of the litigation or another billing dispute, brought in 2002 by a Nashville resort. Omega settled the second dispute without admitting or denying accusations that it fabricated a Federal Express record. Mr. Jordan said Omega did not consider the litigation relevant to its Pentagon work.

[> Gee. Ya think? ]

An effort by the Pentagon to create a broad Internet voting program collapsed in February after criticism by security experts that the system was prone to manipulation.

[> Gee….]

…Nearly half of the states now also allow voters to fax back their ballots to election officials, but the loss of privacy is causing concern among some soldiers.

Scott Rafferty, a Democratic activist lawyer in California, said soldiers had contacted him to say they feared voting by fax. One, an Army sergeant in Germany who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution, explained his reservations.

“Some places you have to hand it off to get it faxed because the machine is behind the counter, at the finance office or personnel support battalion,” the sergeant said. “They should come up with a better, more surefire system.”

Indeed. THEY should come up with a Fax that nobody can See; an Internet that nobody can Hack; a Website that never gets Jammed, voting instructions that everone from the dumbest Three-Star to the most nuanced Rive Gauche expat can instantly understand; & a Snail Mail that never Fails.

And above all: a Tort Reform that automatically denies Standing to Ralph Nader.

:)