Washington Senate Bill 5856
Protecting the Right to Vote for Those Who Serve
Good morning Senator Lovelett, My name is Jack Curtis. I’m a longtime Anacortes resident and retired Navy veteran. My wife (also a retired Naval officer) and I moved to Anacortes in 2008, and are proud to consider this wonderful town our home for the foreseeable future.
While we were on active duty, my wife and I both put to good use our ability to cast absentee ballots to vote in elections that occurred during our deployments to far corners of the globe.
Now, due to the pervasive and unconscionable nature of “the big lie,” local partisan activists have taken aim at the legal right of military members to cast absentee ballots. And though I am now retired and no longer have a need to vote this way, several of my shipmates, who are still on active duty, continue to use absentee ballots to exercise their Constitutionally protected right to vote. Fortunately, most of them are experienced enough voters to recognize a suspicious letter for what it is. My larger concern is for our youngest military members, who may open a letter from a highly partisan (and dishonest) group, threatening them with legal action or implying their votes may be discarded. That is unacceptable — it undermines a fundamental right enshrined in the very same Constitution each of them serves to support and defend.
The suspicious letters (and related efforts) I refer to are well documented and discussed in the following reporting:
Group doorbells WA homes, searching for illegal voters and drawing complaints | The Seattle Times
While it’s unclear if this group’s primary objective is specifically to disenfranchise military voters, that result has unquestionably become a reality. SB 5856 appears to do much to preserve legal protections not just for military voters, but all voters who cast legal absentee ballots.
I strongly encourage you to vote “yes” for SB 5856.
Thank you for taking the time to hear my concerns and for considering the importance of SB 5856.
Jack Curtis
Anacortes, WA
