In Washington –
Trade pledged early release after the war
Crowley says U.S. eager to relinquish hold on foreign commerce
…
Uniform soldier vote urged
Washington (UP) –
The War and Navy Departments today called for uniform legislation for the entire country to facilitate absentee voting by members of the Armed Forces in this year’s elections.
In a joint statement, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox and Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson warned that the services could not administer effectively “diverse procedures” of the 48 states “as to 11 million servicemen all over the world in primary, special and general elections.”
Meanwhile, Rep. George Bender (R-OH) praised the “good intentions” of governors who have sought to solve the soldier vote problem through special sessions of their legislatures, but said that:
Despite these good intentions, our soldiers are not going to be able to vote unless the Congress provides them with a simple, uniform federal ballot.
The Knox-Stimson statement was issued in reply to an inquiry from the Council of State Governments, and was made public by the Council.