Bush administration won't let vets register at federal facilities
Posted by:
Shelley Schreiner
Date: 8/12/2008 1:06 pm
What is he thinking?! That's what the Secretary of State of Connecticut, Susan Bysiewicz, asks in her editorial in the New York Times. It seems that the secretary of Veterans Affairs, James Peake, won't allow nonpartisan voter registration drives at federally funded hospitals, shelters and rehabilitation centers for veterans. So veterans like Martin O’Nieal, who lost his leg in World War II, might not be able to vote.
Martin tried to vote in the last election, but the nurses couldn't answer his questions about how to register and where his polling place was. And thanks to James Peake and his department's policies, nonpartisan organizations aren't allowed to provide veterans like Martin with that information.
We've told you about all the ways that our leaders are failing our veterans and troops-- lack of health care, inadequate mental health support, bickering over educational benefits, sexual assault allegations and electrocutions. Now this.
We ask our veterans to risk making the ultimate sacrifice for our democracy. The least we can do is make it easier for them -- especially those who are recuperating from injuries or without a home of their own -- to exercise their democratic rights. Tell James Peake to allow veterans to register to vote at federal veterans facilities.
Martin tried to vote in the last election, but the nurses couldn't answer his questions about how to register and where his polling place was. And thanks to James Peake and his department's policies, nonpartisan organizations aren't allowed to provide veterans like Martin with that information.
We've told you about all the ways that our leaders are failing our veterans and troops-- lack of health care, inadequate mental health support, bickering over educational benefits, sexual assault allegations and electrocutions. Now this.
We ask our veterans to risk making the ultimate sacrifice for our democracy. The least we can do is make it easier for them -- especially those who are recuperating from injuries or without a home of their own -- to exercise their democratic rights. Tell James Peake to allow veterans to register to vote at federal veterans facilities.
