As hundreds of Iowa National Guard members prepare for deployment to Afghanistan, a state legislator and Guardsman says he’s confident ballots will be delivered to those men and women for the general election this November.
Senator Steve Warnstadt, a Democrat from Sioux City, says every effort will be made to allow Iowa’s service members the opportunity vote as they will be far away from a voting booth.
Warnstadt says, “The Secretary of State’s office has been very involved with the National Guard, especially with the upcoming mobilization, in making sure that the ballots are going to get to those 3,000-plus soldiers who are going to be deploying.”
Warnstadt is an intelligence officer with the Iowa Army National Guard unit in Sioux City. He says soldiers who are overseas defending our right to vote ought to have the ability to vote themselves.
“Every study shows that Iowa’s voting process for active duty and activated service members is in the top three in the country,” Warnstadt says. “Secretary (of State Michael) Mauro has been very strong about trying to make sure that we’re staying up to date…and we maintain our advocacy ahead of time.”
Warnstadt made a stop in Webster City on Wednesday, promoting the passage of veterans issues in the 2010 Iowa Legislature.
Thanks to Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City