We were talking with Deputy Secretary of State Waylene Hiles in the state elections office the other day when she mentioned that Missourians in hostile zones could send absentee ballots back home on the internet or through fax—although overseas voters in non-hostile zones have to send their ballots back by mail or in a UPS or a Fed Ex envelope–or some similar service.
We suggested that the withdrawal of troops from Iraq leaves only Afghanistan as a hostile zone. But Ms. Hiles said there actually are quite a few more.
So we went to the Secretary of State’s web page. We were surprised quite a bit when we saw a list of fifty-three dangerous places. If somebody were to ask you to name countries on this list, would you list very many of these?
Combat Zone, Hostile Fire or Imminent Danger areas:
- Afghanistan
- Algeria
- Arabian Peninsula
- Azerbaijan
- Bahrain
- Burundi
- Chad
- Colombia
- Congo, Democratic Republic of
- Cote D’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
- Cuba (Guantanamo Bay facilities only)
- Djibouti
- East Timor
- Egypt
- Eritrea
- Ethiopia
- Greece (Athens)
- Haiti
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Israel
- Jordan
- Kenya
- Kosovo
- Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan
- Lebanon
- Liberia
- Libya
- Malaysia
- Mediterranean Sea
- Montenegro
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Philippines
- Qatar
- Rwanda
- Saudi Arabia
- Serbia
- Somalia
- Sudan
- Syria
- Tajikistan
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- Uganda
- United Arab Emirates
- Uzbekistan
- Yemen
- Yugoslavia, Federal Republic of
If you’re a Missouri voter and you want to cast a ballot in the February 7 Presidential Primary, you’ll need to apply to your local election authority for a ballot that can be sent you by snail mail or email. But only if you are in one of these areas considered dangerous can you use the email or fax machine to send your votes back.
Next time you get a direct mail piece inviting you to go on this or that tour or this or that cruise, you might find some of these places on your itinerary.
Nice places to visit. But you wouldn’t want to vote there.
