Pentagon, IG at odds as to why service members are having trouble voting
The Pentagon is fending off criticism that its efforts to ensure troops can vote are limited and ineffective, a problem critics say could result in a lower military turnout in this fall’s presidential election.
The Defense Department Inspector General released a scathing report Sept. 4 that found its own investigators were unable to make contact with roughly half of the 224 Installation Voter Assistance Offices that the military says it maintains at bases and posts worldwide.
A 2010 federal law requires the military to maintain those offices at most installations and provide direct support to service members who are trying to vote, either locally or by absentee ballot.
The Pentagon pushed back against the IG report, saying those offices are all fully operational and the IG’s findings are flawed because investigators were using an outdated contact list.
Some political experts say the military vote could be decisive in the November presidential election because several key swing states have large military populations, including Virginia, Florida, Ohio and Colorado.
But there is little reason to believe the Pentagon’s reported problems with voter assistance reflect partisan maneuvering, said Eric Eversole, executive director of the Military Voter Protection Project.
‘The military voting issue has existed long before the current administration. I simply don’t see any politics at play,’ Eversole said.