eorge W. Bush opened a new front in the battle for Florida yesterday, filing a lawsuit that seeks to compel 13 counties to count hundreds of recently disqualified overseas ballots, many from GOP-leaning military voters who could give Bush a final cushion of victory.
Bush and many officals in both parties have said that technicalities are being used to deny soldiers serving overseas one of the very civic rights the armed forces exist to defend. Former generals and war heroes have been drawn into the fray, and the matter has become wrapped in issues of patriotism.
But the issue is more complicated, centering on the questions: Do soldiers and sailors need special treatment when it comes to voting? Is it more difficult for military personnel than for other overseas citizens to vote on time?
Service men and women are often embroiled in more pressing matters, such as combat or potential threats. And their units often move erratically or with only a moment's notice, disrupting the mail flow to the United States.
Nonetheless, they have much higher voting-participation rates than the general public. Each military unit has a voting assistance officer who reminds soldiers of deadlines and helps with technical details. And the military mail system is a well-oiled machine, defense officals said.
Last week, the majority of Florida election officals ruled that the military voters should be treated no differently than civilian absentee voters. They disqualified about 1,500 overseas ballots, many from soldiers, for technical reasons.
The military balloting issue flared up this week as it became apparent that Bush's 930-vote lead will narrow as Palm Beach and Broward counties complete their hand counts.
Bush's decision to ask for an overseas recount contradicts, his critics say, his consistent opposition to Al Gore's requests for recounts in selected counties. It also contrasts with Bush's complaint that Gore was cherry-picking Democratic counties for recounts; the 13 counties Bush selected contain much of Florida's massive overseas military population, who tend to vote Republican. This overseas contingent was in great part responsible for the 600-vote boost Bush got over the weekend when absentee ballots were tabulated.
But many were disqualified because they did not have postmarks on their ballots. Others lacked a signature or the proper registration number or numerous other requirements under Florida law. But Bush partisans, as well as Florida's Democratic attorney general and Gore's running mate, Joseph I. Lieberman, argue they should be given leeway in voting.
''If they forget to cross a T we should forgive that,'' said retired Colonel Robert Maginnis, vice president for national security and foreign affairs at the Washington-based Family Research Council, a conservative think tank.
''If you're going to put your life on the line in foreign lands, we ought to at least recognize that sacrifice. If they've made a valiant effort to select their commander in chief, we ought to respect that.''
However, according to military officals, life for most soldiers abroad is actually rather routine and the duty to vote is stressed far more than in the civilian world.
In 1986, Congress passed the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act. It assigned a voting-assistance officer to each unit and ordered commanding officers to emphasize, in a nonpartisan fashion, the importance of voting.
These officers are outfitted with voting manuals that give detailed instructions on the voting procedures and deadlines of all 50 states.
''The onus is still on the individual to carry out or follow through on voting. But, yes, reminders and encouragement are given,'' said Glenn Flood, a spokesman in Washington for the Department of Defense.
Each base and ship contains numerous post offices run by the military. Every piece of mail going to the United States is postmarked, Flood said. Republicans say that because the military handles 160 million pounds of mail a day, postmarking mistakes and omissions are likely to occur.
There can be disruptions to the process, though. When the USS Cole was attacked by terrorists while docked in Yemen, several US Navy ships were quickly deployed to the region. Their postal routes probably were disturbed, defense officals said. Navy ships on lengthy deployments often have erratic mail service, especially when they are crossing oceans.
''If you're out in the Pacific or Atlantic, you're not going to have mail going out every day,'' Flood said.
''No system is perfect,'' he said. ''But we've had no reports of widespread problems. Absentee voting has been a thing that we've been doing for a long time.''
All overseas military mail arrives in Miami, San Francisco, or New York and then enters the normal mail stream.
The majority of the counties in Florida ruled that all this does not mean military personnel should be treated any differently than domestic absentee voters, who must fill out their ballots correctly and have a postmark no later than Nov. 7.
If the 13 counties Bush challenged yesterday are forced to count their discarded ballots, the governor could make significant gains. Duval County, site of a huge military compound outside Jacksonville, had 44 ballots disqualified because they did not have a postmark. Hillsborough County had 74, and four other military-heavy counties had a combined 129.
Only 930 votes separate Bush from Gore, and with two heavily Democratic counties furiously recounting ballots, these votes could prove critical.
Escambia County, home to a huge Navy base in Pensacola, was one of the few Florida counties that allowed ballots without postmarks. They still voided 77 military ballots for incorrect information.
''At the meeting, the members of the canvassing board decided they would accept all of the ballots, even if they didn't have a postmark,'' said Nancy Chesnut, deputy registrar in Escambia County's Supervisor of Elections office.
That canvassing board is composed of two Republicans and one Democrat.
