Absentee Voting- Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Count Too

It’s not just about getting the votes in, it’s educating the voters and telling them how to do it, said Polli Brunelli, Director of the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP), during a briefing at the Pentagon. There are anywhere between four to six million potential absentee voters in the world, and we want them to be able to vote.

The numbers include “stateside” military- military personnel stationed in states other than the one they are registered in-, civilian Government workers overseas, and overseas military members and their families. The FVAP has set up a website, www.fvap.gov, to assist in their efforts to get all those votes counted.

But what happens after their votes are cast? FVAP has assisted in setting up expedited mail delivery of ballots, and also made sure that people are aware of the existence of the “backup ballot,” a ballot that allows a registered voter to cast a vote for Federal Offices in case their regular ballot isn’t available for them to use. The ballots are sent back to the respective states utilizing green tagged transports and are marked and tracked as a priority on regular transports.

“Absentee Voting Week” is October 12-18, 2008, and that is when a Department of Defense-wide email will be sent out, and comprehensive voting awareness and assistance programs will begin, to encourage voters to vote and return their state ballots as soon as possible. Express mail (via the United States Postal Service, through the military APO, FPO offices) will be used for returning cast ballots between the dates of October 29 and November 4, 2008.

There are also electronic alternatives available to receive a ballot, and some states will even allow a ballot to be returned that way. Arizona, for example, will allow a scanned ballot to be returned via a secure state server. Eleven states allow a voted ballot to be returned this way, and 26 states allow a voted ballot to be returned by fax (up from 17 states in 2000). It is up to the states to ensure via registration rolls that absentee ballots are on their lists and that no one is able to vote more than once.

The primary mission of FVAP is to inform and educated United States citizens of their right to vote, and to encourage all Uniformed and Overseas Citizens to participate in the elections.