00HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 29                                                                                    
01 Opposing any prohibition against having election voting sites at military                                               
02 installations.                                                                                                          
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                              
04  WHEREAS the United States Department of Defense has issued a directive to prohibit                                   
05 election voting sites at military installations; and                                                                    
06  WHEREAS this directive would impede the voting process for citizens who live and                                     
07 work at military installations; and                                                                                     
08  WHEREAS the cumulative factors of time, distance, and potentially hostile climatic                                   
09 conditions in arctic and subarctic locations increase the risk of accidents; and                                        
10  WHEREAS forcing residents at military installations to go off the installations to vote                              
11 will tend to lower voter turnout; and                                                                                   
12  WHEREAS elimination of election sites at military installations will exacerbate                                      
13 crowding and waiting at election sites that are outside of military installations; and                                  
14  WHEREAS base commanders may be able to exercise discretion to allow election                                         

01 sites based on local circumstances; and                                                                                 
02  WHEREAS some election sites on military installations are in non-federal facilities,                                 
03 such as schools and armories, that are operated by state or local governments; and                                      
04  WHEREAS Alaska has a tradition since statehood of public voting on military                                          
05 installations, and proposed changes will cause confusion and extra financial costs to the state;                        
06 and                                                                                                                     
07  WHEREAS the State of Alaska seeks to be a supportive host to our military facilities,                                
08 and this directive is counterproductive to mutual support between the state and the United                              
09 States Department of Defense; and                                                                                       
10  WHEREAS the imposition of impediments to the exercise of civil rights for the same                                   
11 people who are sworn to uphold, defend, and sacrifice their lives for those rights is an                                
12 absurdity and an affront to all Americans;                                                                              
13  BE IT RESOLVED that the Twenty-First Alaska State Legislature respectfully                                           
14 requests the President of the United States and the United States Secretary of Defense to                               
15 countermand any directive that impedes the rights and practices of American citizens to vote                            
16 at election sites at military installations.                                                                            
17  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Bill Clinton, President of the                              
18 United States; the Honorable William S. Cohen, U.S. Secretary of Defense; Lieutenant General                            
19 Thomas R. Case, Commander, Alaskan Command, United States Air Force; Lieutenant                                         
20 General E. P. Smith, Commanding General, U.S. Army Pacific; Major General Dean W. Cash,                                 
21 Commanding General, United States Army Alaska; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the                                 
22 Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S.                                             
23 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.