Should people in the military be allowed to vote?

Question

People that are in service have to be "Conditioned"(brainwashed) to be effective. A military which thought for itself would be disastrous. They have to be 100% behind their government (Which is good). I ASSUME that if you were to check voting patterns amongst military personal of a country at war, you would find a overwhelming majority would vote for the current regime. If you were in a country with a very large (compulsory) Military service or where the military could swing the vote. Wouldn't this encourage the government to get into unnecessary wars so they could remain in power? We owe a lot to our military forces and I am torn between what is good for us and deserved by them. What is your opinion?

I was not only referring to the American Military. However most of the replies referred to It. So I did my home work. It seems I am only partially right with the American Military. The results are a true eye opener.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2003/0311.wallace-wells.html
chapter: Voting right
(the consensus view seems to be that the military as a whole votes Republican by a margin of slightly less than 2-to-1, with enlisted men and women Republican by 3-to-2, and Republicans outnumbering Democrats among officers by 8-to-1)
chapter: Values and weathervanes
(This country has 1.4 million active duty soldiers, and 1.2 million reserves. It also has 26.4 million veterans, nearly 13 percent of the nation's adult population.)

According to the article America has a 50/50 split... Clearly this is not reflected in the Military!!!
if 66% vote republican
66% of 13% = 8.6% of all votes
33% of 13% = 4.3% of all votes
The Military gives republucans a 4.3%advantage.

Hold on I made a mistake with my calculation. More military personal vote than public by nearly a factor of 2 therefore
The Republicans Have a 8.3% advantage...

Answer 1

You bring up some good points. I am sure the majority of military persons through all of history have voted for the incumbents as to do otherwise would be "disrespectful" of their commander. I have difficulty giving a blanket "yes" or "no" answer to this question.

I can see you struggled with the wording of your question because you obviously have respect for the people that are serving. This is a sticky question, but that shouldn't encourage us to avoid thinking about it. So if any service people are reading, please look the other way, we don't mean to disrespect you, but it's our nations governance we're worried about, and no line of thought is "unthinkable" when attempting to protect justice within our community.

It's a double edge sword. On one hand, these are the people who sacrifice the most of their person for our well being. On the other hand, having regime after regime that engage in military actions for profit and political gain is no course to a free and peaceful future.

The best solutions that I can think of:

1. Rotate assignments more frequently, leaving less soldiers stationed around the globe and more at home. Allow voting only from off-duty soldiers or soldiers who have spent "the majority" of their time living a civilian life in any given political term.

2. Weight votes. This idea terrifies me because if we start giving more weight to one persons vote than another, it will eventually be used for nefarious purposes.

3. Allow the military to vote for military commanders, allow the people to vote for civilian leaders, separate the military aspects of our culture from the governing aspects. In other words have two hierarchies, one for the military and one for civilians, and never the two shall cross except in front of a council set up specifically to solve conflicts between the two groups. Similar to parliament's Businesses represented on one side and Civilians represented on the other. The problem here is that ONLY business is currently properly represented by the U.S. government, so a lot of change must happen before we can even begin to address military vs people, we don't even have commerce vs people worked out right.

4. Don't brainwash military personnel. A brief trip through our history books shows that this isn't the only way to gain the dedication and loyalty of our military ranks. I believe a self-thinking military would be a lot more effective, I believe the hierarchy as it stands doesn't seem to make us more effective in any theatre other than ground fighting.

I look forward to reading the non-ranting responses from military persons. This is a great question that is difficult to answer but is a necessary dialogue if want to see our nation continue to grow and maintain a high ideal of justice and fairness.

EDIT:
Bravo Tcat, thanks for an eye-opening post, it makes a lot of sense.

Answer 2

This question is similar to asking if anyone who is a member of a large group should be allowed to vote. For example, if you are a member of a large religious group, a member of a union, a member of national club, or AARP. All of these groups have some influence over voting. Christian groups are typically conservative and Republican while unions are often Democrat. Members of the National Rifle Association are typically encouraged to vote Republican. Environmental groups like the Sierra club and Green Peace would typically be more Democrat. There really is no difference with the military; they are under some influence just like other groups but are ultimately free to make up their own minds.

As far as getting into a war goes as far as I know George W. Bush is the first President to specifically say that he felt he would earn political capitol by being in a war and therefore be able to get any legislation he wanted passed. He is the only President I know of who planned to be in a war when he took office. However, his thinking had to do with swaying public opinion and not with the military vote specifically.

Even with the military vote he still would not have won Florida if the officials there had not paid several million dollars for a doctored felony list. This list of convicted felons normally only cost $10,000 but officials there paid a company several million for a list that erroneously included many non-felon minorities to prevent them from voting. In Gore's home state of Tennessee minority areas received too few voting machines. White areas had an average wait of 18 minutes to vote while minority areas had an average wait of 3 1/2 hours. The fraud was even worse in 2004 with some voiting machines being tampered with. There was even a case of one voting precinct calling a phoney terrorist alert so that they could send the watchers away and have access to the machines. The FBI did not issue the alert. Issues like these are far more serious than the voting record of the military.

Answer 3

I have to assume that you don't know many of us quite frankly. We are far from brainwashed. Most of us are independant thinkers who just have to work within set guidelines. If we didn't... you couldn't ask a question like that.... they would "program" one of us to come and hunt you down and ensure you never asked such a question ever again.... lol...

Okay, now that we have dispensed with that.... Although we support the US Government and YOUR way of life... we are clear headed independant thinkers. Just because we wear the uniform and support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foriegn and domestic....doesn't mean that we are "controlled by the government".
It is the military that gives you the right to cast your vote. What a sad day it would be if we didn't have the opportunity to cast our vote. Where part of the problem is, is in the fact that only about 19% of US Citizens vote.... by contrast.... about 46% of US Servicemembers vote.

I do not doubt your patriotism.... but our (the US Servicemembers) vote has nothing to do with just backing a "regieme".... we probably have a better insight to what is really going on than the general public does. We may actually be the voice of reason.

Picture if you will.... why should US Servicemembers vote for any of the current politicians.... they gave themselves expanded retirement benefits and cut ours... again. We have to serve 20 years to get retirement... they only have to serve 1 term. They gave themselves a 6% pay raise.... they gave us 3.1%. We have more reasons to oppose the government that the average person on the street can fathom..... but we don't serve the Government.... we serve you.

Answer 4

I hope you are just a troll, but I'm afraid you might not be. As a retired AF officer, I can tell you we are given absolutely NO pressure to vote either way. I was in during the Clinton regime (to use your words), and most of us HATED him. I guarantee he didn't get many votes from the military.

Like any other group, we vote for the administration that supports issues important to us. Why do you think the Democrats try to disenfranchise the military voter? They know they will lose. The military consistently votes Republican because Democrats have consistently proven themselves totally incapable of establishing a viable foreign policy.

You wanna see a war, just try taking the right to away from the military.

Answer 5

I didn't get past your brainwash comment. I chose not to read further into your ridiculous assumptions.

Any GI who is an American citizen has the right and should vote. You on the other hand, should become part of the US armed forces so that you too, can better understand the mindset of the average GI. He does not, for the most part, have a political agenda. The president, being at the top of the chain of command is given respect. In the military, you are not necessarily honoring the man, but you are his rank.

Answer 6

Yes they should they work just as hard if not hard then any one else for us to have the right to vote My husband is in the U.S. Army he just like everyone else he dose not think the president is always right but it is his job to make sure you have the right to vote that someone not saying you can only do this or that they have the right to vote and more they are the reason you get to vote. They do not want to go and live there family's all they want to do is support there family and there country that is why they are in the military not because they all want the same person to be in office it because they believe you should have the right to say hey i do not like this or that they should have the right to vote they die for you

Answer 7

Wow look at that!!!
There it goes!
Faster!
Farther!
Here it comes!
Flaming
Falling
Faster
Kabooooooom!!!
another lame idea down in flames.

Listen to me very carefully...THE U.S. MILLITARY IS NOT BRAINWASHED! They are not mindless robot imbeciles incapable of thinking for themselves. They are disciplined soldiers who understand the necessity of strict and immediate obedience of all LAWFUL orders. Since you find yourself torn on the subject, let me make it easier for you...You will never infringe upon the constitutional rights of the United States military.
Would you like to try insulting Mother Theresa now?

Well looking at your statistics I guess according to libs the military must be full of affluent people....big business...hmmm but then the libs also argue that the all volunteer military victimizes the poor and minorities...most confusing huh?

Mesa P I don't know who is worse, the person that asked that absurd question or you that praised it's value and tried to accomodate it with proposals of your own. WHAT IN HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE...the suggestion is outrageous? It's people like you two that make me question who should be allowed to vote. Perhaps we should administer an intelligence test to determine who qualifies. Neither of you demonstrates a great sense of justice or the ability to think rationally.

Answer 8

That is the beauty of the USA. YOU GET TO CHOOSE WHAT YOU DO!!! You get to choose, do you WANT to vote or not. So, yeah, of course, the military has every much the right to vote as the next person. My husband is active duty and the comment about "brainwashed".....are you medicated? If not, get checked.....seriously! UGH! Like I said, to each their own. You have the right to your own opinion too, I guess. So, oh well.

Answer 9

I believe each military person has a mind of their own. It is their job to follow rules but these rules also leave room for individuality. I do know that when President Clinton was in office and I was in the military I did not vote for him.

Answer 10

In my Opinion militarians shall have the right to vote . Because they have showed us a way by establishing good help and serving their country. why should there be a problem Especially if they are a citizen of the united states. But even if they are not a citizen of the us. militarians CAN VOTE