Democrats disenfranchise military voters in NY 20 race

The special election in New York's 20th district is extremely tight and it looks like the absentee ballot count may constitute the difference. The problem lies in the fact that some of the military voters won't have their ballots counted because the Democratic members of the State Election Board purposely chose not to send ballots to them soon enough to allow return by the deadline. Hans von Spakowksy at National Review Online notes this attempt.

The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, which is responsible for enforcing the federal statute that guarantees the right of overseas citizens and military personnel to vote by absentee ballot, contacted the New York State Board of Elections and requested that they issue their ballots sooner for this race. The two Republican members of the board voted to support this request. Yet the two Democratic members of the board, shamefully enough, voted against doing so. Were they trying to disenfranchise military voters?

The Justice Department then filed a federal lawsuit on March 24 against the election board and the governor of New York. But the requested remedy was nowhere near what should have been asked for to remedy this problem, and didn’t include any of the measures that we successfully asked for from other courts when I was at the Division coordinating DOJ’s enforcement of this statute.

The only thing DOJ leaders essentially asked for (and got in a consent decree) was an extension of time for the receipt of overseas ballots, from April 7 to April 13. In other words, despite the fact that almost every expert in this area now recommends at least a 45-day transit time for absentee ballots for military voters, Justice asked only for 30.

It is hard to fathom what the two Democratis members of that boars were thinking other than that they knew the military skews Republican and didn't want to count those votes. There is always partisan politics involved in elections and while it is always wrong, using administrative power to quash votes from soldiers on the battlefield is disgraceful.

Here are the names of the two partisans who put politics above patriotism.

Co-Chair Douglas A. Kellner / Co-Chair Evelyn J. Aquila
Email the SBOE info@elections.state.ny.us

Iraqi translator has earned our help

The State Department has made a decision to make an Iraqi translator, Jasim, wait another three years for a visa. One of the reasons that the denial was issued was that, Jasim, as part of the Kurdish Peshmerga, infiltrated Uday Hussein's organization to steal data and then stole Uday's car to escape. He was captured, tortured, and then released six years later when Saddam let all the prisoners go on the eve of the Invasion in 2003.

The theft of Uday's car is looked upon as criminal and not political.

"The only reason I am here today is because of Jasim," said Elisabeth Keene, a U.S. Army specialist who serves in a combat unit. "He saved the life of everyone in my unit. On several occasions while our guys were putting rounds down range, Jasim put himself in harm's way to pull the wounded out and treat them," Keene said. "Jasim is a hero to everyone he has ever met."

After the invasion, Jasim became a legendary translator, assisting above and beyond.

"I owe my life to Jasim ... hands down," said Master Sgt. Jason Krieger, who went on over 200 combat patrols with Jasim. "I consider him a brother, not only in arms, but in love as well."

For six years, Jasim has put his life on the line to help our troops. His stepbrother paid the ultimate price for Jasim's heroism.

Jasim said his stepbrother, in fact, was captured in the fall of 2007 and was tortured to death in an effort to get to him. The U.S. Army officer who received and processed the report on the murder, Major Leslie Parks, told FOXNews.com that Jasim's stepbrother was tortured with an electric drill through his eyes.

So his application had letters of recommendation, awards and certifications from soldiers, and the DoD and DHS approval.

U.S. Army Captain Joseph Schwankhaus wrote about one day in particular when Jasim performed multiple heroic acts. "While establishing security positions around a patrol that was struck by an IED, [Jasim] singlehandedly removed a wounded soldier from a disabled vehicle and ensured that he was treated by the company medic. During this security cordon, another soldier was shot in the head by a sniper and a large fire fight ensued. [Jasim], while under direct enemy fire provided cover for the wounded soldier while medical personnel rendered life-saving first aid."

Schwankhaus stated emphatically, "His dedication to my soldiers and his total disregard for his own personal safety assisted in saving the life of a very good Non-Commissioned Officer."

The WLF supports Jasim and all the brave men and women who served as translators at tremendous risk to themselves and their families. We will be contacting members of Congress asking for their help in gaining him a visa as one small thanks for his selfless service.

What is the Warrior Legacy Foundation?

The Warrior Legacy Foundation is a 501(c)4 organization dedicated to promoting policies that will allow our military to successfully prosecute the wars we are fighting and all the missions it is given. It's leadership is comprised of veterans of all our conflicts from the Cold War through Iraq & Afghanistan. These warriors have seen the cost of weakness and the intrusion of politics into our strategy and tactics and vow to oppose that with well thought out and battle-tested methods.

It is organized as a double-edged sword with the Warrior Legacy Institute (WLI) pulling together the best minds among those who have walked on the ground where we fight, and Vets for Victory empowering the hundreds of thousands of our members to allow their voices to be heard in the halls of power.

WLI will gather combat commanders & NCOs, intelligence professionals, and foreign service officers to discuss their experiences in kinetic operations, COIN, nation-building, reconstruction, intelligence and information warfare and diplomacy. They will look at what has been tried, what worked and what didn't and craft policy proposals for specific situations around the world. We will send representatives to conflict zones to gather facts, interview principals and review the history and current state of affairs. They will return and present their findings to a roundtable that will add their experiences to the process. This group will produce policy papers providing specific, implementable solutions to address US policy for these areas. In addition multimedia presentations, Op-Eds and “talking head” appearances will support these proposals.

Vets for Victory will gather our grassroots membership into a cohesive entity to provide visibility and momentum for these proposals. Events and projects will be created to ensure that the public and our military and political leadership knows full well what the warrior class believes. We will provide and online network for our members and affiliated groups to publicize and discuss relevant issues and to organize around them. We will create a marketplace of ideas that gives a voice to all the concerned and patriotic folks who support the military and it's missions. Major events similar to Vets on the Hill and the National Heroes Tour will come out of this group.

The combination of a policy institute and a broad grassroots membership provides a powerful ability to affect the decisions that determine our likelihood of victory or defeat. The pro-mission, pro-troops voice is lacking in our current public discourse, this group will make certain that the warrior class is heard and heeded.