WASHINGTON,
Jan. 2010 –
Servicemembers
and overseas
voters
shouldn’t
assume they
automatically
will receive
ballots for
the 2010
elections just
because they
have in the
past.
Previously,
voters would
receive
absentee
ballots for up
to two cycles
following
their request,
Bob Carey,
Federal Voting
Assistance
Program
director, said
yesterday
during the
2010 election
year kick-off.
He said new
laws require
voters to
submit federal
postcard
applications
for absentee
ballots on a
yearly basis.
In the coming
months, Carey
and his team
will travel
worldwide to
train voting
assistance
officers at
embassies,
consulates and
overseas
military
facilities to
ensure voters
understand the
process and
can exercise
their right to
vote.
“We are
training
thousands to
train
millions,”
Carey said.
“[We want]
to make sure
that each and
every military
and overseas
voter has the
opportunity to
successfully
request an
absentee
ballot,
receive their
absentee
ballot and
cast it in
time so it is
counted.”
The voting
assistance
program staff
is striving to
make it easy
for voters to
receive and
cast their
ballots for
the upcoming
election
through the
program’s
Web site,
http://www.FVAP.gov.
Carey said his
staff is
converting to
a Web-based
process
that’s
similar to
many
tax-filing
programs, with
an intuitive,
easy-to-understand
application.
“You don’t
have to know
how to go
through the
250-page
voter’s
assistance
guide – all
will be
online,” he
said.
Once voters
answer a few
questions,
Carey
explained,
forms and
ballots
automatically
will populate
with relevant
information,
making it
easier for
users.
Although the
program’s
staff is doing
its best to
make the
process easy
for military
and overseas
voters, people
need to move
quickly to
ensure they
get to vote.
Voter
applications
may take a
while to make
it to hometown
election
offices, and
it could take
up to a month
after that for
ballots to be
sent to
voters.
Carey said
voters who
have applied
for a ballot
but don’t
receive their
ballot at
least a month
before the
election
should instead
use the
federal
write-in
absentee
ballot
available on
the voting
assistance Web
site.
“When
[voters] get
their regular
ballot, they
should still
complete and
return it,”
he said. “If
it gets there
in time, it
will take its
place.”
In addition to
starting the
process in a
timely manner,
Carey said
voters also
should:
-- Submit a
new federal
postcard
application
with every
move so the
most current
address is on
file;
-- Fill out
all forms in
their
entirety,
because
officials need
an alternate
way to reach
an individual
so their vote
can be counted
if the form is
illegible; and
-- Go to
http://www.FVAP.gov
to see their
state’s
requirements.
Although
applications
were
distributed to
all deploying
troops before
their
departure,
Carey said,
many didn’t
know their
future mailing
address and
therefore left
portions of
the
application
blank. Once
troops have
the needed
information,
they can
complete the
forms online,
even from a
computer
outside of the
military
domain.
