Grimes off to Middle East to check military voting

Posted: Fri 3:53 PM, Sep 07, 2012

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes is scheduled to leave this weekend for a weeklong trip to the Middle East, where she will be part of a group of U.S. officials reviewing military voting procedures.

Grimes, Kentucky's chief election official, said in a statement Friday that members of the military who are risking their lives abroad must be ensured the right to vote in elections back home.

Last month, the secretary of state's office reached a court settlement that gave troops more time to vote by absentee ballots ahead of the Nov. 6 general election.

Grimes will get a firsthand look at how ballots are delivered to troops so that they can be returned to the United States in time to be counted.

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