As Attorney General of Virginia, Ken Cuccinelli will protect the rights of our military

Senator Cuccinelli Praises Federal Judge for Protecting the Voting Rights of Thousands of Virginia Military Voters Federal Court Confirms Cuccinelli's Argument that Virginia was Violating the Voting Rights of Military and Overseas Citizens.

Fairfax, VA - Senator Ken Cuccinelli, candidate for Attorney General, commended the decision by a federal judge that the Commonwealth of Virginia had violated the voting rights of thousands of Virginia military personnel and other overseas citizens under federal law. On Thursday, October 15, 2009, U.S. District Judge Richard L. Williams, sitting in Richmond, ruled in McCain-Palin vs. Virginia State Board of Elections that Virginia failed to mail more than 2,000 absentee ballots to military personnel and other overseas citizens in time for their votes to be counted in last November's presidential election, thus violating their rights under federal law. The law in question is the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), which guarantees citizens living abroad the right to vote absentee. To remedy this violation of federal law, the Court ordered the Commonwealth to count all otherwise proper ballots received by the Commonwealth within 30 days after the election. "I am very pleased that Judge Williams has come to this decision," Senator Cuccinelli stated. "It was a travesty that our military members were disenfranchised last November, and it is vitally important that we make sure this never happens again." He continued, "Our military defends our nation and its' citizenry, and it is the very least we can do to make sure that the voices of these brave men and women should be heard in our elections. As the next Attorney General, I will lead the push to put the legal structures in place to ensure Virginia's military men and women that their votes will count in every election." This is not the first time that Senator Cuccinelli has been involved with protecting the voting rights of these military personnel. On October 6, 2009, Cuccinelli criticized the Kaine Administration for filing a legal brief (see http://www.cuccinelli.com/memo.pdf) that amazingly argued that because there is no statutory timeframe in place under federal law, the Commonwealth could mail absentee ballots to active duty service members right up to the day before an election. Of course, with the turnaround time in the mail for such ballots, those ballots would never be returned in time to be counted, thereby denying those military personnel the right to vote. Judge Williams' decision on the 15th largely confirmed Senator Cuccinelli's position.