1 out of 4 military overseas ballots not counted

[JALU3]

Well hot damn! Take a look at this:

Report: One-fourth of overseas votes go uncounted

May 13, 3:07 AM (ET)

By JIM ABRAMS

WASHINGTON (AP) - One out of every four ballots requested by military personnel and other Americans living overseas for the 2008 election may have gone uncounted, according to findings being released at a Senate hearing Wednesday.
Sen. Charles Schumer, chairman of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, said the study, while providing only a snapshot of voting patterns, "is enough to show that the balloting process for service members is clearly in need of an overhaul."
The committee, working with the Congressional Research Service, surveyed election offices in seven states with high numbers of military personnel: California, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington and West Virginia.
It said that of 441,000 absentee ballots requested by eligible voters living abroad - mainly active-duty and reserve troops - more than 98,000 were "lost" ballots that were mailed out but never received by election officials. Taking into account 13,500 ballots that were rejected for such reasons as a missing signature or failure to notarize, one-quarter of those requesting a ballot were disenfranchised.

Given such close races as the one that is supposedly being wrapped up in Minnesota, it's shocking that the military hasn't done a better job at making sure that the servicemembers are able to vote, and the respective States don't do more to coordinate so such things don't occur.