Federal Voting Assistance Program Emphasized

The Federal Voting Assistance Program office is pulling out the stops to ensure all service members and their families who wish to can vote. Polli Brunelli, the program’s chief, said the program has learned from experience and has put in place a system to make it relatively easy for service members and their families to vote in the 2006 mid-term elections. The program covers not only military personnel, but also Defense Department civilians and DoD contractors. It depends upon a voting assistance officer at each unit. Among changes being implemented in this election cycle, some states will send ballots to requesters via e-mail, while others will fax the ballots. In addition, the Federal Postcard Application form has been revised. Each state is responsible for administering the vote of its citizens, so the laws and programs offered vary from state to state.