A bipartisan group of 21 secretaries of state throughout the country have asked Secretary of Veterans Affairs, James B. Peake, to lift what they are calling "his department's ridiculous ban on voter registration drives."

Susan Bysiewicz, Secretary of State for Connecticut, and Sam Reed, her counterpart in Washington State, are leading the protest of a May 5th directive that bans nonpartisan voter registration drives at federally financed nursing homes, rehabilitation centers and shelters for homeless veterans. The result, they warn, is that too many of our most patriotic American citizens - including injured and ill military veterans who find it difficult to travel for voter registration- may not be able to vote this November.

In an op-ed submitted to the New York Times, Bysiewicz explained, "There are thousands of veterans of wars in Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf and the current campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan who are isolated behind the walls of V.A. hospitals and nursing homes across the country. We have an obligation to make sure that every veteran has the opportunity to make his or her voice heard at the ballot box."

The directive is based largely on the Hatch Act, which bans federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity. A catch remains, however, in that veterans do not qualify as federal employees.

Officially, the V.A.'s policy is "to assist patients who seek to exercise their right to register and vote... However, due to Hatch Act requirements and to avoid disruptions to facility operations, voter registration drives are not permitted."

In June, Matt Smith, a spokesman for the Department of Veterans Affairs, told the Times that the VA "wanted to ensure that our staff remains focused on caring for our veterans instead of having to determine the political agenda of each group that might try to enter our facilities."
However, the collective of state officials are perplexed as to how voter registration drives disrupt the care of its patients. Prior to the directive, the VA allowed site managers to make individual, case-by-case decisions whether to permit such drives, and whether the 90-second time commitment of filling out a registration card constituted a disruption.

Congress is also contemplating a repeal of the directive. In a May letter to Secretary Peake, U.S. Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) wrote, "It appears to us that the Department took one step forward for our veterans and the right to vote by directing that assistance be provided with voter registration and with securing absentee ballots, but then took a large step back by prohibiting voter registration drives."

As the countdown towards the November election grows shorter each day, the Senators and secretaries have little time to strike a compromise with Secretary Peake. It begs the question, at what point will other Congressional vets weigh in to collect some potentially meaningful votes?

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