Oklahoma
State Senate
Communications Division
State Capitol
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
For Immediate Release: February 17, 2009
Senator Don Barrington
Measure Would Make Voting Easier for Returning Soldiers
Military personnel returning from overseas service
would have an easier time voting under legislation approved unanimously
Monday by the Senate Rules Committee. SB 718, authored by Sen.
Don
Barrington, would allow those who return up to three months
before an election to still be able to vote even without being
registered.
“We should do all we can to make it easier for our military
men and women to be able to vote when they return home,”
said Barrington, R-Lawton. “Voting is our greatest freedom;
and they above all should have the right to participate in the
process given it’s what many of them are fighting to give
people in Iraq and other countries.”
Barrington said the legislation stemmed from a recent report by
the Pew Center on the States that criticized Oklahoma for not
providing enough time to vote for our military personnel serving
overseas.
Barrington explained that currently, military personnel who are
not registered to vote and return home after the voter registration
deadline, which is 25 days before an election, are allowed to
cast a provisional ballot. His bill extends the grace period for
returning military personnel to ninety days. Therefore, any military
personnel who return home within ninety days of an election will
be allowed to cast a provisional ballot, without being registered
to vote prior to the deadline.
“When our soldiers return from overseas, the last thing
on their mind is registering to vote. Many of them haven’t
seen their families and friends anywhere from six months to a
year, and maybe more,” said Barrington. “They have
so many things to get in order when they return and we don’t
want to punish them because they happen to forget to register
to vote in time. This will give them a little leeway, and let
them still participate in one of their greatest freedoms as an
American.”
The bill would apply to any service member and their spouse who
has been honorably discharged, is on officially authorized leave,
or whose service or overseas employment has been terminated.
SB 718 will next be heard by the full Senate.
For more information contact:
Sen. Barrington's Office: 405-521-5563
