EXCLUSIVE BREAKING NEWS: DOJ knew for over a week that New York failed to mail ballots to military voters, and took no action
EXCLUSIVE TO ELECTION LAW CENTER: Election Law Center has learned that the Holder Department of Justice has known for over a week that ballots failed to be sent to military overseas voters from New York. According to a DOJ source, the Voting Section was alerted at least as early as October 4 that New York totally failed to comply with the MOVE Act and Federal law. Yet the Department did nothing. They concealed the failure from the general public. They did not sue and seek a court order requiring the ballots to be sent.
Tuesday went by with no lawsuit. Wednesday went by with no lawsuit. The same for Thursday and Friday. Instead they dithered and talked with New York. The long holiday weekend (for Federal employees) went by. The weather was beautiful in Washington.
This means that the DOJ knew that ballots were not going to Iraq and Afghanistan, but they never took action. This close to an election, a week makes all the difference between having time to cast a ballot, and missing out on the election.
But what of the “urgent negotiations” that DOJ press spokesperson Xochitl Hinojosa said were occurring? Apparently the negotiations were so “urgent” that they went on for at least a week without any results whatsoever. New York still hasn’t mailed the ballots. It seems New York wasn’t persuaded by DOJ’s resolve, or lack thereof.
Even if DOJ sues New York on Tuesday, it is likely this lawsuit is in response to Senator John Cornyn’s October 11 threat, reported by Jana Winter at Fox News, that they go to the courthouse on Tuesday October 12 and sue. What about the lawsuit that could have been filed on October 4, October 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and even October 11th through electronic case filing?
The bottom line is that anytime last week, the DOJ could have secured an injunction from the Federal Court ordering New York to mail military ballots. Obtaining this injunction would strengthen the bargaining position of those “urgent negotiations.” If a court agrees with your position, you can negotiate a resolution from a position of strength.
Instead, military voters got the short end of the stick. All last week, time slipped by and DOJ sat silent. This is because some in the Justice Department are adverse to filing a lawsuit. The litigation-adverse should be removed from management of the military voting operation. The courage to enter a courtroom is prerequisite to helping military voters.
So look for the DOJ to file a lawsuit against New York in the face of Senator Cornyn’s threat. But keep in mind that the DOJ knew that New York wasn’t mailing ballots as early as October 4, and perhaps earlier, according to DOJ sources. An entire week has been lost to fix the problem.
This is devastating news for the DOJ and demoralizing news for military voters. It means that the officials responsible for protecting their right to vote are more interested in talk, and risk aversion, than they are protecting voting rights. It means they knew there was a catastrophic problem for over a week, and took no action. Thank God our services members have acted exactly the opposite throughout our nation’s history.
UPDATE: Fox reports that New York expects to be sued this week, at least 8 days after DOJ learned of the catastrophe.
Tuesday went by with no lawsuit. Wednesday went by with no lawsuit. The same for Thursday and Friday. Instead they dithered and talked with New York. The long holiday weekend (for Federal employees) went by. The weather was beautiful in Washington.
This means that the DOJ knew that ballots were not going to Iraq and Afghanistan, but they never took action. This close to an election, a week makes all the difference between having time to cast a ballot, and missing out on the election.
But what of the “urgent negotiations” that DOJ press spokesperson Xochitl Hinojosa said were occurring? Apparently the negotiations were so “urgent” that they went on for at least a week without any results whatsoever. New York still hasn’t mailed the ballots. It seems New York wasn’t persuaded by DOJ’s resolve, or lack thereof.
Even if DOJ sues New York on Tuesday, it is likely this lawsuit is in response to Senator John Cornyn’s October 11 threat, reported by Jana Winter at Fox News, that they go to the courthouse on Tuesday October 12 and sue. What about the lawsuit that could have been filed on October 4, October 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and even October 11th through electronic case filing?
The bottom line is that anytime last week, the DOJ could have secured an injunction from the Federal Court ordering New York to mail military ballots. Obtaining this injunction would strengthen the bargaining position of those “urgent negotiations.” If a court agrees with your position, you can negotiate a resolution from a position of strength.
Instead, military voters got the short end of the stick. All last week, time slipped by and DOJ sat silent. This is because some in the Justice Department are adverse to filing a lawsuit. The litigation-adverse should be removed from management of the military voting operation. The courage to enter a courtroom is prerequisite to helping military voters.
So look for the DOJ to file a lawsuit against New York in the face of Senator Cornyn’s threat. But keep in mind that the DOJ knew that New York wasn’t mailing ballots as early as October 4, and perhaps earlier, according to DOJ sources. An entire week has been lost to fix the problem.
This is devastating news for the DOJ and demoralizing news for military voters. It means that the officials responsible for protecting their right to vote are more interested in talk, and risk aversion, than they are protecting voting rights. It means they knew there was a catastrophic problem for over a week, and took no action. Thank God our services members have acted exactly the opposite throughout our nation’s history.
UPDATE: Fox reports that New York expects to be sued this week, at least 8 days after DOJ learned of the catastrophe.
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Also headlined elsewhere: Obama and Holder helped NY break law by denying NY soldiers right to vote
This just in... (from Pat Dollard):
This just in... (from Pat Dollard):
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