Were the ballots totally the same? I mean, were there any other ballot measures, local county elections, etc. that may have been on one counties ballot that may not have been on the other? Could people that no longer live in a county cast a deciding vote on a local matter, a matter that they have no business voting?
There’s a reason why election laws are in place?
Georgia has very large military base assignments involving active duty, national guard, and reserves.
Thousands of active duty live in off post housing...paid by the military in full or partially. You can be assigned to a county and then, as an example, be sent to training for 5 months while you're living in another county, stationed abroad in another state or country.
- Thus, it's possible and legal to live elsewhere (temporary) and still cast votes for those running in your county (local matters as you refer to)...a matter that they have every right to vote about.
In any given year, including an election year, Georgia has +13 military bases...many units within each base. It fluctuates because units get decommission or reassigned.
- Anyone that doesn't understand how to calculate the military absentee vote in Georgia...will see a lot of discrepancies.
The military, post office, and local election officials work together to ensure soldiers living abroad or living in another county get their absentee ballot...
not possible to cast two ballots or vote for a county that you do not have permanent duty status.
- Once again, military soldiers can vote in a county that they're not living within...temporarily even if it's an election year.
It gets more complicated when soldiers leave active duty status and then move to the reserves or national guard...there are systems in place to prevent mistakes or fraud of the military absentee vote.
Think about this...the largest base in Georgia is
Fort Benning. It alone has +120,000 active-duty soldiers. That's just one military base out of the +13 military bases in Georgia. That's a lot of soldiers receiving their mail (including absentee ballots) via APO/FPO/DPO locations.
When I was temporarily stationed at Fort Benning
prior to being sent for training at West Point to work with the Cadets and then being sent to South Korea...I received my absentee ballot for a county in Kentucky (base of my permanent duty) even though I was temporary stationed in West Point, New York.
Also, I did not receive an absentee ballot for elections in New York nor Georgia. Yet, I don't remember requesting an absentee ballot for the Kentucky elections...it was automatically sent to me.
My point, the Military Postal Service Agency (MPSA), and the USPS work closely together to ensure absentee ballots for the county or state elections are sent properly to the soldier regardless of where the soldier is living.
wrbtrader