All but forgotten: disenfranchising U.S. soldiers in 2000

Lest we forget...

Soldiers' Votes Could Decide Election

During the chaotic 2000 election, thousands of troops overseas voted for president, only to have their ballots rejected. Others did not receive ballots at all. And some found the entire process confusing.

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In 2000, Florida officials disqualified 1,527 military votes because they lacked postmarks. George W. Bush won Florida - and the presidency - by 537 votes.

The military traditionally votes Republican. In one recent informal survey of the armed forces and their family members, 72 percent of respondents said they favored Bush over Democrat John Kerry.

The Democrats found any and every reason to reject overseas absentee ballots (primarily from U.S. troops) while fighting tooth and nail for "dimpled chads" to be counted as votes for Gore. Will it happen again? If the election is close again (and let's hope it's not), I wouldn't be surprised if it does. If the Democrats truly wanted every vote to count 4 years ago, they would've let the military absentee ballots count. Of course, that would've meant that Gore wouldn't have had any hope at all of winning by harvesting enough votes through dubious means.

It's already been shown this year that military personnel are favoring Bush by a 4-to-1 ratio. With so many personnel overseas this election year, they truly could be the deciding factor. Let's all hope and pray that they are given the chance!