00       HOUSE CS FOR CS FOR SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 8(MLV) am H                                                      
01 Relating to supporting polling places at military installations.                                                        
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
03       WHEREAS the Department of Defense (DoD) issued a directive that disrupted the                                   
04 traditional authority of military base and post commanders in Alaska to allow local election                            
05 officials to set up voting booths at military installations; and                                                        
06       WHEREAS this action makes it more difficult for thousands of military personnel                                 
07 and their families to vote; and                                                                                         
08       WHEREAS recent election history has shown that every vote is important in deciding                              
09 an election; and                                                                                                        
10       WHEREAS Alaska has a long tradition of voting at military installations that could                              
11 end as a result of the DoD directive; and                                                                               
12       WHEREAS Alaska has four polling places that could be made unavailable for future                                
13 elections by the DoD directive, including polling places at Ft. Richardson, Ft. Wainwright,                             
14 Elmendorf Air Force Base, and Eielson Air Force Base; and                                                               
15       WHEREAS the U.S. House of Representatives responded to the negative effects the                                 
16 DoD directive would have on Americans in uniform and their families by passing H.R. 5174                                

01 on October 12, 2000, to ensure the voting rights of Americans who live on military bases and                            
02 posts; and                                                                                                              
03       WHEREAS H.R. 5174 allows the Secretary of a military department to make any                                     
04 building at a military installation under the Secretary's jurisdiction available for use as a                           
05 polling place in any federal, state, or local election; and                                                             
06       WHEREAS once that site is made available for an election, H.R. 5174 provides it will                            
07 remain available for subsequent elections, unless the Secretary notifies the Congress in                                
08 advance of the reasons the building will no longer be used in that capacity;                                            
09       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests the                                      
10 President of the United States, the United States Congress, and the United States Secretary of                          
11 Defense to work together to countermand any directive that impedes the rights of American                               
12 citizens to vote at election sites at military installations.                                                           
13       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable George W. Bush, President                              
14 of the United States; the Honorable Donald Rumsfeld, U.S. Secretary of Defense; Lieutenant                              
15 General Norton A. Schwartz, Commander, Alaskan Command, U.S. Air Force; Admiral                                         
16 Dennis C. Blair, Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Command, U.S. Navy; Major General                                     
17 James J. Lovelace, Jr., Commanding General, U.S. Army Alaska; and to the Honorable Ted                                  
18 Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young,                                  
19 U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.