Was there an organized effort
to prevent the military from voting?

Military Didn't Get Ballots,
Plan Class-Action Suit

David M. Bresnahan

Thursday, Nov. 16, 2000

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Attorneys for disenfranchised military personnel plan to ask a judge to either let them vote late or allow them to refuse to pay taxes for the next four years. Large numbers of military personnel have complained that they did not receive absentee ballots in time to vote, and now they are taking action in court.

"What we would like to do is ask for injunctive relief and ask for these people to have their ballots flown to them immediately and allow them to vote and be counted in this election, regardless of what state they’re in," attorney Philip E. Jones told NewsMax.com in a phone interview.

"It’s not a principle of Democrat or Republican. It’s the principle of the right to vote. "In the alternative, if the judge doesn’t allow that, we’re going to ask for injunctive relief in the form of allowing these people not to have to pay their taxes for four years because they’ve been disenfranchised from the political system by denying them their right to vote for the next four years. That’s taxation without representation," said Jones.

Jones said he would file the class action suit on Monday, initiated by three members of the military serving in Japan. Two are from Florida and one is from Oklahoma.

He is inviting other members of the military to join in the suit, which he is handling without cost to participants. He said he was eager to document as many cases as possible of members of the military who were denied their right to vote.

"It is our position that denial of the right to vote constitutes not only a violation of one's fundamental constitutional rights, but taxation without representation," Jones explained.

"We’re getting in reports and allegations of widespread cases of this," said Jones.

Florida Servicemen Were Shipped Out Before Election

He is investigating complaints that a large number of military were suddenly, and without advance warning, sent on a training mission the day before the election. The large contingent was stationed in Florida and did not request absentee ballots because they were supposed to be in Florida on Election Day. The sudden orders prevented them from voting.

"Of course, that can probably be explained off as ‘needs of the Army, or Air Force,’ or whatever the case may be, for training purposes. But it certainly looks suspicious,” said Jones.

He said many other complaints by servicemen and servicewomen were being received. Parents are also sending in reports of requesting absentee ballots for a son or daughter in uniform and the ballots not being received. Jones is asking these people to complete a sworn affidavit and fax it to his office as soon as possible.

Was there an organized effort to prevent the military from voting?

"It certainly seems like there’s been a lot of service members who did not get their ballots worldwide who requested them," said Jones.

The case will be filed in federal court on Monday, and Jones is calling for military around the world to notify him if they have been prevented from voting so he can demonstrate to the court the full extent of the problem.

There is no expense for members of the military to participate in the legal action because Jones is doing the work pro bono through Campbell & Jones, Attorneys at Law, San Antonio.

"We need all parties to this suit to fax us a notarized statement stating they applied for their ballot through the appropriate channel and did not receive the ballot in time to vote, or did not receive it at all.

"If any parties saved a certified receipt showing when they requested their ballot, it will be very helpful. Also, if there are any military orderly room records annotating service members' requests for ballots, we could use copies of those, or sworn affidavits from the appropriate supervisor," Jones explained.

Affidavits may be faxed to Jones' office at (210) 227-4229, 24 hours a day. Jones can be reached at (210) 224-1923. E-mail: philipejones@earthlink.net.

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David M. Bresnahan is a free-lance journalist who also hosts "Investigative Journal," http://InvestigativeJournal.com, a nationally syndicated radio program. E-mail: david@investigativejournal.com.