A group of military veterans residing in U.S. Island territories have filed a federal lawsuit seeking the right to vote. Veterans, including those living in Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, filed the lawsuit earlier this month in the Northern District Court of Illinois, contending that laws preventing them from voting in federal elections violates the Constitution's guarantee of equal protection. The plaintiffs are former Illinois residents. For more than a decade, islanders from U.S. Territories as well as U.S.-affiliated Micronesian island nations have been joining the military at high rates and suffer a significantly higher percentage of casualties than any U.S. State. The Complaint, 'Segovia v. Board of Election Commissioners,' is available on the Scribd.com website.
For more on veteran benefits, visit the Military.com Benefits Center. For more on legislative issues that affect the military, visit the Military.com Legislative Center.
