In a report released yesterday, the DOD Inspector General goes after the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) on multiple fronts, including the finding of a failure to comply with the MOVE Act by not establishing voter registration offices at military installations. In a nutshell, DOD is only about halfway through the job, three years after the passage of the MOVE Act.
First, we have DOJ failing to enforce the MOVE Act until the fiasco of 2010. Now, with less than 70 days to the Presidential election and military voting participation rates plummeting, this IG report criticizes FVAP and DOD for not complying with the most significant military voting legislation in 20 years. This report is going to send shock waves throughout the political and elections arena. Politico predicts a nasty showdown between House Republicans and the Obama Administration on the delay and foot-dragging in implementing the registration part of the MOVE Act. ELC predicts more of a bipartisan outcry from the Congress.
Questions to ponder: When has the Obama Administration ever laid down on the job on requiring full compliance with voter registration laws at public assistance or DMV offices in any number of states that have been sued? Why is it that military voter registration offices get short thrift under the watch of the Obama Administration?
Much of the focus on the MOVE Act has been with how the states comply with law; however, the IG report reveals that the DOD is failing to comply in even more significant ways than the states and DOJ lifts not a finger. ELC will continue to investigate who made the decision inside DOD and FVAP to ignore the Congress and slow walk the implementation of these installation voting registration offices prior to the 2012 General Election.