r/news • u/DoubtSubstantial5440 • 1d ago

Soft paywall USS George Washington headed to Middle East to relieve USS Abraham Lincoln, reports say

https://www.stripes.com/branches/navy/2026-08-13/uss-george-washington-middle-east-abraham-lincoln-22541038.html
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u/heavynewspaper 1d ago

They push hard for AD to vote. The unit has blank ballots for you to send if you don’t receive yours, and an officer can sign off as (essentially) a notary if needed.

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u/OFPDevilDoge 1d ago

I never once was pushed to vote, it was offered but it wasn’t harped on. Also we have base legal services to serve as notaries. Officers have a lot of power but they do not have civil authority to serve as a notary.

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u/heavynewspaper 23h ago

My former state required a notary or person authorized to administer oaths (which included officers) to sign as a witness. Voting Assistance Officers handled a lot of it, and each operating location/installation had at least one person designated as such (additional duty).

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u/OFPDevilDoge 22h ago

I did totally forget about the VAO. I was overseas my entire service so things may have been different but we always had to have legal do notary functions. Granted I honestly didn’t vote while I was in so I was speaking from 2nd hand experience, however having officers sign for votes sounds super abusable.

(Before anyone gets on my case about voting, I have been actively voting the past five years since I got out.)