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- Absentee ballot request postcard
Absentee ballot request postcard
Object Details
- Description
- As an official war ballot request, this airmail card would have enabled the absentee service member to vote in the upcoming 1944 election. The lack of “Federal” in the Official Election insignia indicates that it was issued by the individual state well in advance of the election. Like all election materials of the time it is clearly marked for free postage including the faster airmail service. Typically the insignia markings are printed in red, designed to make the cards stand out as a mailing priority.
- The card consists of a standardized printed layout that requests the necessary information to process an absentee vote. This includes the home address of the serviceman and the current address of where he is stationed. To verify his identity a signature is required.
- First Lieutenant Nathan B. Kaufman signed the form for the applicant, who may have been himself or an enlisted member of his unit: the 547th Night Fighter Squadron, United States Army Air Force. Founded in March 1944 at Hammer Field, California, the unit was based at Visalia Airfield before being deployed to the South Pacific in September 1944.
- With the increase of military personnel stationed away from home during World War II, absentee voting became a more pressing issue. The election of 1944 was the first time that the Federal Government had sought to address the issue on a national level, as prior to this arrangements had existed only sporadically at the discretion of the state. It was however a contentious issue, raising concerns over how the system could be used to the political advantage of President Roosevelt and how it would work in conjunction with wartime censorship. The concept of absentee voting was however strongly supported by the military.
- References
- Air Force Historical Research Agency --547 Intelligence Squadron Factsheet
- http://www.afhra.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=13243 (Accessed on November 7, 2011).
- Carter, Russ W. War Ballots -- Military Voting by Mail from the Civil War to WWII. Military Postal History Society, 2005.
- Sherman, Lawrence (Ed.). The United States Post Office in World War II. Chicago, 2002.
- Data Source
- National Postal Museum
- Date
- July 25, 1944
- Object number
- 2002.2013.90
- Type
- Covers & Associated Letters
- Medium
- paper; ink
- Dimensions
- Height x Width: 3 x 4 15/16 in. (7.62 x 12.54 cm)
- Place
- Alabama
- Place of Origin
- California
- See more items in
- National Postal Museum Collection
- Topic
- World War II (1939-1945)
- Covers & Letters
- Record ID
- npm_2002.2013.90
- Usage
- CC0
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