Photo By Staff Sgt. Matthew Lumagui | Services members and their eligible family members can utilize the fvap.gov website to...... read more read more
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FORT CARSON, Colo. – With the general elections and states primaries coming around the corner it may not be too late to cast a vote. Voting is a constitution right of the United States under the Fifteenth, Nineteenth, Twenty-sixth Amendments and Soldiers have available resources to cast their ballot.
The Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) works to ensure service members, their eligible dependents and those overseas are made aware of their right to vote anywhere around the world to have the tools and resources to successfully cast their vote.
“Leaders should utilize and inform their Soldiers about the program as it is in their constitutional right to vote while serving” says Capt. Tevita Fangupo, Unit Federal Voting Assistance Officer (UVAO) for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. “Voting is a way for Soldiers and their families' voices to be heard at the political level.”
With People First in mind on the Army’s push to provide access to all resources, all units will provide a voting assistance officer for brigades, battalions and companies under Department of the Defense Instruction 1000.4 and Army Regulation 608-20, Federal Voting Assistance Program, these identified coordinator(s) assist with voting resources and information within the unit they are assigned in.
“Many states require that the Federal Post Card Applications (FPCA) be sent in as soon as possible or at a bare minimum 90 days before the election in order to be eligible to vote” says Fangupo. “This program is made available to all Soldiers, so i encourage them to reach out to their respective FVAP officers to educate themselves and others.”
A voting residence can be the state or territory where the service member last resided prior to entering military service, or the state or territory that they have since claimed as their legal residence. Even though that service member may no longer maintain formal ties to that residence, the address determines the proper voting jurisdiction. To claim a new legal residence, consult the human resources and legal office.
“Going to my FVAP officer in my earlier years in the Army, helped me understand the voting process and made things easier to get my vote out,” says Sfc. Bryan Nash, CH-47 Chinook platoon sergeant, Bravo Company, 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Inf. Div. “When I mentor my subordinate Soldiers, I mention that they have voting rights and to use the program to spread awareness.”
The FPCA allows eligible U.S. citizens and service members to apply to register to vote, request an absentee ballot, and update their contact information with their local election office. The local election office uses the information provided on the FPCA to determine if the voter meets the state's registration requirements, which election materials to send the voter, and where and how to send the ballot.
The Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB) is a backup ballot for use by Service members, and their dependents. This write-in absentee ballot can be used as a backup when the voter is living outside their voting residence, has applied for a regular state ballot through the FPCA form, and has not received their requested state ballot in time to vote and return it by the election deadline.
Nash says that the process is streamlined now as the internet processes the information faster. Soldiers and their families can go to their respective UVAO or go online to view their state requirements and dates.
The last day to vote in Colorado for the general elections is November 8, 2022 7 p.m. MST.
For more information, go to https://www.fvap.gov
| Date Taken: | 08.05.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 08.05.2022 17:44 |
| Story ID: | 426679 |
| Location: | FORT CARSON, CO, US |
| Web Views: | 30 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Voting Resources Made Available to Service Members, by SSG Matthew Lumagui, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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