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Advocacy Blog
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Veterans Affairs 'remains opposed' to making voter registration available to vets
In a letter this week to Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Senator John Kerry (D-MA), Secretary of Veterans Affairs James B. Peake said the VA will not help injured veterans at VA facilities to register to vote before the 2008 election, as required by federal law. The letter was in response to a year-long request from Senators Feinstein and Kerry that the VA give veterans using VA facilities an opportunity to register to vote. In the letter Peake wrote,
"VA remains opposed to becoming a voter registration agency pursuant to the National Voter Registration Act, as this designation would divert substantial resources from our primary mission."
Senator Feinstein responded to Peake's letter, saying, "The Department of Veterans Affairs should provide voter materials to veterans," Feinstein said. "I believe the cost of providing these voter materials is minimal. It's a small price to pay for the sacrifice these men and women have made in fighting for our nation's freedom. I am disappointed,"
In a related case, in August 2007 the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, in Preminger v. Secretary of Veterans Affairs upheld a decision that permitted the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) to exclude voter registration by third-party groups in VA facilities; "we cannot say that it is unreasonable for the VA to regulate the activities taking place on its grounds and to exercise its discretion in determining when a 'demonstration' (defined to include 'partisan activities') would be disruptive." In February 2008, the case was denied rehearing.
Read more about this story at Alternet.
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