As increased volumes of young
voters register to vote in Ohio and other so-called
“swing states” state election officials
have discovered that current polling places are not
large enough to hold the crowds.  Attorney
General John Ashcroft and former Florida Secretary of
State Katherine Harris have offered an alternative solution
for the new voters.
Young, newly registered voters between the ages of 18
and 30 will be flown on Army transport planes directly
to Iraq, where they can cast their ballots two months
before the planned January vote in post-Saddam Iraq.
“It’s a win-win situation,” Ashcroft
said of Operation Iraqi election. “Our newly liberated
voters in Iraq will have an opportunity to view an election
in the offing, while at the same time, young voters
will have the opportunity to fulfill our military requirements
in Iraq.”
Harris said the young voters will not be required to
join the US Army during their trip to the polls, but
if they wish to have armored cover or weapons of their
own to enter the locations around Baghdad, Fallujah
and other Sunni territories they may want to sign up
for protective services by committing to a minimum two-year
hitch. “They can also opt for much shorter stints
in Iraq by taking their chances without cover,”
Harris said. “It’s just a matter of how
much risk they are willing to accept.”
There is also nothing that would force these potential
Kerry voters to accept a trip on an army transport plane
to Iraq, Ashcroft said. “They can always stay
behind and save their vote for another presidential
election,” he added. “But keep in mind,
the spirit of Afghan women and others who didn’t
let the fear of sharpshooters and warlords get in the
way of exercising their right to vote.”
Democrat John Kerry says while he likes the idea of
voters experiencing first-hand the “mess”
that Bush created in Iraq, he believes that it might
make GOP voters think twice.
As usual, Bush has got it wrong, “Kerry says.
“I’m not sure any American who has been
to Iraq will actually vote to re-elect Bush,”
Kerry says.
The latest tracking polls confirm Kerry’s opinion
as a survey of Iraq voters show that America’s
newest territory is clearly in the “blue”
Kerry column. A new Fallujah Daily News Poll
shows that the number of voters supporting Kerry is
exceeded only by the numbers who demand that Bush share
a prison cell with Saddam Hussein.
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