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VOTING OF OUR SOLDIERS OVERSEAS There are already over 1000000 men in the American forces abroad of whom the greater num ¬ ber are voters By November possibly there will be 2000000 In any circumstances to take the vote of the soldiers in France must be a complicated problem It becomes increasingly difficult as Pershings army increases in size sizeAVhile AVhile the War department stands ready to assist the state authorities so far as possible in meeting the requirements of election laws obviously its first care must be that nothing shall be done to interfere with active military operations Among so many states tiie differences in election methods prohibit the adoption of any uniform system for the army State officials have no power to surrender to the military authorities the conduct of elections the military cannot establish as a matter of general convenience methods of voting that will be valid under state laws No easy way exists for clearing up the confusion The best the War department can do in the circumstances is to prescribe certain gen ¬ eral rules to which the separate states must adjust themselves In many cases this no doubt will call for new legislation In some cases for lack of time to amend the present election laws it will result iu soldiers being deprived of the opportunity to vote The situation is conceivable where in a single regiment at the front the election laws of half a dozen states might apply and in practice none of them operate successfully successfullyWhere Where a certain organization is made up chiefly of qualified voters of one state a fairly complete poll may be had but these conditions do not by any means fit the overseas forces as a whole New York World
