NEW YORK - In an amicus brief filed today, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the nation's first and largest nonpartisan group for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, asked the Ohio State Supreme Court to reject a last minute legal challenge that could disrupt the voting process and potentially nullify the votes of thousands of Ohio residents, including thousands of veterans in VA hospitals and deployed military personnel.

The fight centers on an Ohio law which requires a citizen to be registered to vote for 30 days in order to be an eligible voter on Election Day. The existing interpretation of this law finds that registering to vote and requesting and submitting an absentee ballot at the same time is legal as long as it takes place at least 30 days before Election Day. A lawsuit brought against the Secretary of State earlier this month by two individuals argues that 30 days must occur between registering to vote and receiving an absentee ballot, seeking to prevent the two actions from occurring simultaneously. If the court finds in the plaintiff's favor, thousands of veterans and active duty troops could be disenfranchised.

"Disenfranchising our brave men and women in uniform is unpatriotic and un-American," said Paul Rieckhoff, Executive Director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA). "This lawsuit threatens to deny our servicemembers the very freedoms they are fighting so hard to defend. IAVA demands that the court reject this last minute, politically-motivated ploy that could block the votes of our troops and veterans."

In the brief filed today, IAVA highlighted this issue by stating, "the lawsuit at issue challenges registration and absentee voting procedures that both Republican and Democratic Secretaries of State have historically implemented without incident."

Siding with Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, IAVA holds that Ohio law permits voters to register to vote by October 6th and to cast an absentee ballot any time after September 30. As a result, during this week-long window from September 30th through October 6th, voters can register to vote and cast an absentee ballot on the same day. The brief points out that the consequences of this suit would not only impede absentee voters during the 7-day overlap period but "actually would threaten far more sweeping harms that would impact many first-time voters, both absentee and in-person, including significant numbers of military personnel and disabled veterans who depend on absentee voting."

"Ohioans have made tremendous sacrifices in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since September 11th more than 46,000 of the state's sons and daughters have deployed," said Rieckhoff. "We owe these and all servicemembers an absentee voting process that is fair, predictable, and clear."

Here is the Testimony I submitted to the House Veterans Affairs Sub-Committee on Health. It deals primarily with the VA’s accompanying outreach to their suicide prevention hot line.

Mr. Chairman, ranking member and distinguished members of the committee, on behalf of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and our more than 100,000 members nationwide, I thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony regarding veteran suicide, and the Department of Veterans Affairs’ outreach efforts.

Since the beginning of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, we have witnessed a dramatic upswing in suicide rates among troops on active-duty and veterans. In 2006, the suicide rate for active-duty soldiers reached its highest level in decades, with 97 Army suicides. In 2007, this disturbing trend escalated beyond all expectations to 115. And just last week, it was revealed that the suicides among active-duty soldiers in 2008 are likely to be even higher, as there have been 62 confirmed and 31 suspected suicides already this year. Tragically, for the first time since the Vietnam War, the Army suicide rate is on track to exceed that of the civilian population.

While the rate of military suicides is closely monitored, the VA only just recently began tracking the suicide rate for veterans. From 2002 - 2005, 141 veterans who left the service after September 11, 2001 took their own lives. In 2006 alone, there were 113 suicides among Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans. The suicide rate for male veterans ages 18-29 in 2006 was about 46 suicides per 100,000, compared with about 20 suicides per 100,000 for their nonveteran peers. And these are just the cases that are being tracked by the VA. For veterans of all generations, data on suicide is equally troubling. While veterans make up only 13% of the U.S. population, they account for 20% of the suicides. As evidenced by these statistics, suicide is likely to be a long term problem for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Multiple tours, inadequate dwell time between tours, strained relationships, and financial difficulties have all contributed to the rising rate of suicide among active-duty troops and veterans. Mental health injuries are also a major risk factor. According to a RAND study, 300,000 of the 1.7 million veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan will develop combat-related mental health issues. Many of these cases will go untreated, and if allowed, develop into severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Suicide is the end result of multiple failures in our military and veterans’ mental health care systems. Inadequate mental health screening upon redeployment, professional and personal stigma attached to mental health care, and inadequate VA outreach have brought us to this crisis, with little to no end in sight.

The establishment of the VA suicide hotline last year was a critical first step in reversing this trend, and with over 55,000 calls received, it is clear that the VA moving in the right direction in getting the message out about this service. The success of the VA hotline is admirable and we applaud them for making this toll-free hotline available to veterans in need. But with the hotline averaging 250 calls per day from troubled veterans and concerned family members, it is clear that more needs to be done to reach out to vulnerable veterans and get them the help they desperately need.

The VA is currently testing outreach advertisements in the Washington, DC region. While these efforts are necessary, the execution leaves much to be desired. Appearing on buses and trains, these print ads do not adequately relate to veterans of this conflict and are not as effective as they could be. The silhouette employed in the ad is clearly not of a modern soldier, and the ad itself blends into the background of ads that litter our public transportation system. It is clear that while the VA had the right idea with their outreach efforts, they have not done sufficient advertising research to connect with veterans of the current conflicts.