Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Some of Utah's military men and women deployed overseas fear their absentee ballots won't be counted come Election Day.
Troops are just now starting to get those ballots in places like Iraq, and the election is less than two weeks away. For our reservists -- National Guard and regular troops - this is not a new problem, but there is a new solution.
When American troops deploy, Election Day is likely one of the furthest thoughts from their minds. Then when Election Day nears, voting deadlines are tight and the mail service slow.
National Guard Capt. Deborah Gatrell says she and others in her unit are just getting their absentee ballots, even though they filed last spring.
Davis County Election Director Pat Beckstead says county workers have broken their backs to get them out, even sent two ballots.
"We wanted to do everything we could to get those ballots out to those people. And we met the deadline. In fact, we were ahead of the deadline," Beckstead said.
Lt. Col. Hank McIntire of the Utah National Guard says the problem is decades old. "It's a chronic concern. It isn't just something that's popped up this election. This is something that happens every time service members are deployed," he said.
U.S. and military postal services have to work together. After national party conventions, county clerks are pressed to get the ballots to the troops. If time runs out, service members lose their vote.
"We want to make sure that everybody has the opportunity to cast a vote that's counted, that's accurate," said Utah Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert, who also oversees the election and voting process in Utah.
The lieutenant governor's office says this remains a critical issue across the country, and Utah passed legislation to handle it two years ago.
So, if soldiers think they cannot mail a ballot post-marked by Nov. 3, that will arrive within 14 days of the election, they should e-mail a request to their county clerk at home in Utah and vote electronically or by fax.
"There is absolutely no reason for anybody -- whether that's a military personnel, some citizen living abroad, some missionary living in some place where mail is questionable -- for them not to be able to vote and have their vote counted in Utah," Herbert said.
If you know someone in this circumstance, let them know they should contact their county clerk and request a ballot to be e-mailed to them. They can then print it out, complete it, scan it and e-mail it back by Nov. 3.
E-mail: jboal@ksl.com
E-mail: aadams@ksl.com
