Online voting offers alternative

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Jeff Schoen
  • Air Force Reserve Command Public Affairs
Potentially hundreds of airmen serving worldwide may be eligible to vote online in 2004 based on a major government initiative to simplify the absentee-ballot process.

The secure electronic registration and voting experiment program is part of the Federal Voting Assistance Program. Program organizers hope the experiment will encourage as many as 100,000 absentee voters, including reservists stationed worldwide, to register and vote in state primaries and the general election in 2004.

The initiative is designed to improve access to the polls for military people and American citizens overseas who have had difficulty receiving and returning ballots in the past because of mail transit time and their mobility. In 2000, a post-election survey found that almost 30 percent either did not receive a ballot at all or received it too late.

"It is extremely important for us to ensure that every servicemember is afforded the opportunity to vote," said Lt. Col. Deborah Divich, voting assistance officer for the Air Force Reserve Command.

So far, more than 50 counties from seven states are expected to participate in the online program. They include Arkansas, Florida, Hawaii, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah and Washington.

Counties participating are available online at www.serveusa.gov.

If a county or state is not participating in the online program, people can still cast their vote by submitting a federal post card application to their local election official, Divich said. Every wing in the Air Force has a voting assistance officer to help servicemembers with the absentee voting process, she said.

For help filling out the application, people should contact their unit voting assistance officer or visit www.fvap.gov. (Courtesy of AFRC News Service)