Illinois military disenfranchisement scandal

After nearly five decades of living in Illinois, it still boggles my mind how screwed up this place is.

Here's the latest atrocity, as reported by WLS-AM Chicago.

The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether the state of Illinois missed the deadline for mailing absentee ballots to members of the military and other overseas American voters as part of a new federal overseas voting law.

Cris Cray, Director of Legislation at the Illinois State Board of Elections, says not all of Illinois' 110 jurisdictions were compliant with the 2009 Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE).

The law requires every state to mail their absentee ballots 45 days prior to Election Day to overseas troops, government employees and other Americans who want to vote from abroad.

Cray says she is currently compiling data from each of Illinois' jurisdictions to determine which were compliant and which were delinquent. Cray said it's possible the ballots may not be counted because the state was tardy in sending them out.

Mark Kirk, the Republican candidate for the US Senate, was quick to decry this news:

I am deeply troubled that the spokesperson for the State Board of Elections said that military ballots in Illinois may not be counted in this election. Our men and women in uniform are putting their lives on the line everyday to defend our democratic freedoms. What a disgrace it would be if our state denied them theirs. I will do everything in my power to defend the rights of our men and women in uniform. I urge my opponent, Alexi Giannoulias, to stand with me in support of our men and women in uniform.

Bill Brady, the GOP candidate for governor, also issued a statement:

I am deeply concerned about today's disturbing report that Illinois may have failed to mail absentee ballots to our military members serving overseas in a timely manner, and in accordance with the law. The U.S. Department of Justice is right to conduct a full and immediate investigation. The federal government and the state of Illinois have the responsibility to take any and all action to ensure the right of those who defend our freedom overseas to cast their votes in this important election. Failure to act on this disturbing report threatens the integrity of this election, and our democratic process.

New York, hardly a paragon of good government--but not as dysfunctional as Illinois, is also failing to follow the law on military ballots.

During the Civil War, Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant, an Illinoisan, went to great efforts to ensure soldiers could vote in the 1864 general election.

We've lost our way, my friends.

UPDATE October 14: Rich Miller of Capitol Fax clears up some of the jurisdictional errors of the WLS story--a report he is not overly excited about. Among them is that the ballot distribution is done on the county level in Illinois.

Technorati tags: history Civil War Ulysses Grant Illinois military armed forces defense Afghanistan war on terror illinois politics bill brady elections Mark Kirk politics news Iraq