WILLIAMSBURG -- Jeff Harper was worried.
The same day the U.S. Army first sergeant received an absentee ballot in the mail from Acme Township, the clerk's office called with bad news.
He couldn't vote because he wasn't a township resident.
Harper, stationed at Fort Lewis in Washington state, disagreed.
But with just days to go until the Nov. 4 election, the 56th Army Band tuba player thought he'd miss his chance to participate in the historic presidential vote.
"The military really encourages its members to vote," said Harper, 41, who grew up in a house on Bunker Hill Road. "I was told I couldn't do it without having a residence in Michigan."
The problem boiled down to a misunderstanding in the township clerk's office about residency requirements for military members.
Harper said his address is listed as Acme Township, though neither he nor his parents have lived there for years, because when soldiers leave the military they are relocated to their place of enlistment.
Military personnel are eligible to vote by write-in ballot at their current base as long as they apply by Nov. 1. The provision protects against disenfranchisement, given their frequent transfers and overseas deployments.
Harper will move in a matter of weeks from his base about 15 miles southwest of Tacoma to Fort Bragg, N.C., in preparation for a 2009 deployment to Afghanistan.
His application to vote was received Sept. 22, Acme Clerk Dorothy Dunville said.
The current owners of Harper's childhood home contacted her office when they received a mailing addressed to him, Dunville said, adding that the mistake likely occurred because no one was aware of the unique rule for service members.
"It was just naivete on our part," she said. "Even if the house is knocked down, you can be there."
Dunville said she learned of the error this week, after a Record-Eagle inquiry, and called Harper at 5:30 a.m. Friday -- his time -- to clear up any confusion.
Harper, a 22-year veteran, said he didn't mind the wake-up call. He completed his ballot and planned to fax it in later in the day.
"It was a fantastic phone call," he said. "I'll always consider myself from Michigan."
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