Help Available for Absentee Voters in Primaries

The Defense Department is urging service members and their families who do not live in areas in which they are registered voters to sign up for absentee ballots and send them in as quickly as possible. "We have over 20 primaries occurring in February, so now is the time, if you’ve received your ballot, to vote and get it back by the state deadlines," said Polli Brunelli, chief of the Federal Voting Assistance Program. Absentee voters can request ballots by filling out a federal postcard application form, and forwarding the completed form to officials in the local election office of the state where they are registered to vote. Each state then sends absentee ballots to voters. Forms are available on the Web at www.fvap.gov/pubs/onlinefwab.html. Completed forms can be mailed, but some states allow or fax or e-mail transmissions. More information is available at http://www.fvap.gov/ivas/fvap_state_menu.html.