I have no idea how this will play out in terms of electing people I like, regardless, this is still good news:
The Department of Veterans Affairs said Monday that it would no longer ban voter registration drives among veterans living at federally run nursing homes, shelters for the homeless and rehabilitation centers across the country.
In May, the department said such drives would violate the prohibition on political activity by federal employees and would be disruptive.
The reversal came after months of pressure from state election officials, voting rights groups and federal lawmakers who said that such drives made it easier for veterans to take part in the political process.
The previous rule made no sense (at least what I understood of it made no sense- there may have been aspects I was unaware of), as it seems to me that the general rule should be to make things EASIER for people to vote should they so desire.
SGEW
Fixed to reflect our current enfranchisement policies.
Have you seen the polling of and donations by military families? Sen. John McCain is most certainly not at the top of the list (from what I understand it’s Obama, then Paul, then McCain).
I believe that there are a lot of military folks out there (speaking from personal experience and anecdotal evidence) who distrust McCain for his P.O.W. PTSD issues, rather embarrassing military career, open boasting of his military experiences, and inter-departmental rivalry (Navy flyboys aren’t the most popular, to say the least).
liberal
John Cole wrote,
The piece you cited alludes to the Hatch Act.
Notorious P.A.T.
Uh oh, now the Republicans will have to work a little harder at getting voters’ right to cast a ballot thrown out.
jake
Listen John, when McCantankerous was a POW he didn’t have the ability to vote for five years!
This is why it was all balls. When Lurita Doant sat down a bunch of her employees at the GSA and had them listen to a little talk about how it would be really swell if they voted for Republicans, that was a violation.
Allowing a volunteer group to come by and offer vets an opportunity to register doesn’t trigger the prohibition. I’m not sure how the hell it could be seen as “disruptive.” Christ these people suck ass.
douglasfactors
The Hatch Act does not prohibit federal employees from participating in nonpartisan voter registration drives.
I’m sure the DVA’s legal department is aware of that.
Someone was lying.
greynoldsct00
I’m glad the Secretary’s of State went to bat for this; I know the CT SoS did. Ridiculous to keep wheelchair or bed-ridden people from getting their chance to vote. Disruptive my ass. Any vet who is sick of this war, and ever worse, disgusted with the cutbacks on programs and care once they come home will think long and hard about voting for the party who put them in that position.
Punchy
If you think they’ll be allowed to register Democrats, or that the Democratic registrations aren’t somehow lost in the mail, then I have some prime housing to sell you in S.Florida and Vegas.
Chuck Butcher
By law, voter registration is non-partisan, you must take and deliver any Party’s registration. Obviously, you might target areas more aligned with your Party. The DVA was playing games and Hatch Act was completely bogus. (and they knew it)
Phoenix Woman
The Big Three polls are now suddenly oversampling Republicans even as Democratic registrations go through the roof:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/09/poll-madness-mccain-takes_n_125158.html
The new poll from Investor’s Business Daily (as conservative as it gets) that shows Obama up 45-40 would seem to lend some support to this:
http://www.pollster.com/blogs/us_obama_45_mccain_40_ibdtipp9.php