Thursday, October 09, 2008

Federal Voting Assistance Program lets servicemembers vote from anywhere

Courtesy Photo
Artwork published in Harper’s Weekly shows Union Soldiers from Pennsylvania casting absentee ballots during the 1864 presidential election.

The presidential campaign has entered the home stretch as the nation looks toward Election Day. Legal residents of Virginia who are active-duty servicemembers, or a spouse or dependent of an active-duty servicemember live or are deployed outside of the commonwealth may register to vote and cast their ballot by mail until Nov. 4, according to State Board of Elections Web site.

The Web site states military personnel and their family members who wish to vote absentee and are legal residents of Virginia but are not registered to vote, or who need to change their voter registration, are required to use the Federal Post Card Application to register and apply for an absentee ballot. The post card must be received by the local elections office by 5 p.m., Oct. 28, and can be obtained at the Federal Voting Assistance Program’s Web site, http://www.fvap.gov.

Polli Brunelli, director of DoD’s Federal Voting Assistance Program, hopes military personnel and their families take advantage of absentee voting during this year’s presidential election, the second since the war on terror began in 2001.

“We have military members spreading democracy all over the world, and it’s important they themselves participate in the process,” she said. “They are electing our policymakers, whose work has a direct impact on these individuals’ lives and their family’s lives. So it is important their interests are represented.”

FVAP fosters voting participation by service members and civilians abroad by assisting eligible voters who wish to cast ballots in their states’ primary election. It recently updated its Web site to provide online voter registration for servicemembers and their families, explained Lt. Col. Les’ Melnyk, defense press officer in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs.

“In between elections, FVAP works with the states to facilitate voting,” he said. “There’s nothing more fundamental to a democracy than the right to vote.”

To use the free registration service, go to the FVAP site and look under the column on the right side of the page titled “Quick Links.” Scroll to the bottom of that column and click on “Use our new automated tool to register/request a ballot.” You will then be prompted to provide your name and e-mail address. Once you complete these fields, a user ID and password are sent to the prospective registrant’s e-mail account. The voter then logs in at the same screen and makes a registration request. The whole process takes about 10 minutes. FVAP officials said they are working with the Justice Department to encourage use of the online tools by all states. Voters from states not yet participating must complete the paper version of the registration application and send it via regular mail. Absentee Voting Week is Sunday through Oct.18. Soldiers and family members are encouraged to return their ballots, and if they haven’t received their ballot to use the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot, available through AKO.

For voters without Web access, 50 states and territories accept the federal postcard application by fax, as long as the voter also mails in the original form, Brunelli said. Thirty-eight states will fax out a blank ballot, and 26 allow voters to return their completed ballot by fax.