The Federal Voting Assistance Program has designated Sept. 29-Oct.8 as Absentee Voting Week to ensure Fort Benning Soldiers and Family members who reside outside of their local voting jurisdiction still have the opportunity to vote in upcoming elections.
Kevin Aker, installation voting assistance officer said the program's website FVAP.gov is an effective tool in assisting voters with absentee ballots. The Federal Post Card Application is the primary form for requesting registration or an absentee ballot from a local election official. The FPCA acts as both a registration and absentee ballot request form.
"October 6 marks the deadline for locations where if submitted by that time, it's guaranteed that your vote is counted by the election time," he said. "Anytime after that, you run the risk of missing your deadline."
Use the Federal Post Card Application online to register or request an absentee ballot. Many states allow ballots to be submitted by email or fax. The length of time an FPCA is valid varies by state. FVAP recommends that service members, their eligible Family members and overseas citizens complete a new FPCA each January or at least 90 days before the specific election they want to vote.
"We want to let voters not they are not excluded if they didn't receive their absentee ballot, and that can be done online as well," Aker said. "You can use the absentee ballot to vote for officials where you keep your local residency."
Aker said the FVAP office also has a computer designated to cast or print out ballots to mail in. Each unit also has a voting assistance officer to answer questions or assist Soldiers with information about the absentee voting process, he said.
"It's especially important that trainees are given an opportunity to vote and the commanders have been very supportive of that," Aker said.
The Fort Benning Federal Voting Assistance Program office is located at 8150 Marne Road, Building 9230. Hours of operation are from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, contact your unit voting assistance officer or call the installation office at 706-545-1876 or email usarmy.benning.imcom.list.g1hrd-voting@mail.mil.
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