Since it's Veteran's Day, it seems like an appropriate time to talk about how the Georgia General Assembly has screwed military voters out of their opportunity to vote in runoff elections for state offices like the one we're about to have on December 1 (for PSC). #gapol 1/

To begin, you have to understand that there is a federal law, the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (known as UOCAVA "you-oh-cava"), that protects military voters and citizens living overseas. 2/

One provision of the UOCAVA requires states to send absentee ballots to protected UOCAVA voters at least 45 days before any federal election. This is because mail to and from overseas military can be very slow. 3/

Back in the early 2010s, the Department of Justice under Obama sued the State of Georgia because the state's election calendar held runoff elections too close to the general election to allow absentee ballots to meet the 45-day deadline. 4/

Georgia argued in court that the UOCAVA did not apply to runoff elections and it lost. UOCAVA applies to *all* federal elections, including runoff elections. 5/