Secretary of State Beth Chapman, who has been sued by the U.S. Justice Department based on the assumption that she will fail to comply with elections laws requiring that she report the number of military and overseas voters’ ballots transmitted, returned, and cast in the 2008 general election, has already complied with these laws.
Chapman and her staff have prepared the report and submitted it to the Elections Assistance Commission 52 days before it was due to be filed. The report is not due until February 2, 2009.
“We worked hard to complete the largest, most successful election in our state’s history,” Chapman said. “We are working even harder to comply with the law well in advance of the deadlines placed on us in an effort to overcome the mistakes of the past and prove that things have changed for the better in Alabama.”
Following the state’s largest election in history which was well managed and considered to be “virtually flawless,” Chapman and her staff took little time to enjoy the election day success before moving straight to the uniformed and overseas voting statistics report. The organization and timeliness of the report is going beyond the call of duty to ensure its arrival well in advance of the Justice Department’s deadline.
Alabama had a total of 8,856 uniformed and overseas voters who requested absentee ballots. 5,987 ballots were returned, with 5,743 ballots being counted.
Chapman has been a national leader in advocacy for Military and Overseas Voters and testified before a Congressional Committee earlier this year representing the National Association of Secretaries of State and Alabama’s military leaders.