Delays in absentee ballot printing in Wisconsin may mean soldiers serving in Iraq will not receive their ballots in time, according to The Capital Times.
Republican Party officials blame this possibility on the Democrats, who challenged Ralph Nader's inclusion on the state ballot, thus delaying printing. Election officials, however, blame the delay on the wait for the state Supreme Court decision that upheld Nader's inclusion.
\A couple of days can make a big difference,"" Linda Hansen, who has a son serving in Iraq, told The Capital Times during a press conference. ""And sometimes they're out on missions. The mail might be there, but they might not.""
Chris Zulager, whose husband is fighting in Iraq, agreed, adding her husband told her recently in an e-mail that the troops were disappointed they had not received their ballots.
Lt. Col. Tim Donovan, director of public affairs for the Wisconsin National Guard, said he did not know of any difficulties with absentee ballots.
""We are not aware of any problems,"" he told The Capital Times. ""We provided information to all of our deployed commanders from the Army and Air National Guard that they could use to help their troops participate. And we are facilitating the acquistion of absentee ballots using e-mail.""
Troops have received guidelines stating they can e-mail a request for an absentee ballot, but it would have to be printed, mailed and received by a municipal clerk by Nov. 2. The guidelines state it could take up to 18 days for mail to travel between the United States and troops in Iraq.
Kevin Kennedy, state elections director, said there are other options available for troops should the absentee ballots not arrive on time. He said write-in blank ballots have been available since Aug. 4, and added troops can request to have a ballot mailed or faxed.
Kennedy added counties print out the ballots, and all but one county that had printer delays have sent out the absentee ballots.
Additionally, Dane County Clerk Joe Parisi said all military write-in ballots were sent out on time.
