Election Tips from FVAP for November 5, 2010

Thank You!

With the 2010 General Election behind us, the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) would like to take this opportunity to extend our appreciation to those who made it possible for Uniformed Service members, their families and overseas citizens to vote in the State Primary, Special, Runoff and General elections which took place this year. It has been a year with a lot of positive changes to the absentee voting process and we appreciate your hard work in helping voters understand and take advantage of these modifications.

Post Election Survey Headed Your Way

Each election year, FVAP conducts surveys to determine voter participation and satisfaction with the absentee voting process and to evaluate the effectiveness our program, website and services provided. Members of six separate groups will receive surveys within the next few weeks: Active Duty Military, Unit Voting Assistance Officers, Department of State Voting Assistance Officers, Military Spouses, Stateside Local Election Officials and Overseas U.S. Citizens.

If you receive one of our confidential surveys in the mail or via email, we encourage you to take a few minutes to complete and return it with your election experiences. Your participation in this survey will play a very important part in improving the absentee voting process for Uniformed Service members, their families and U.S. citizens overseas.

Your Voting Assistance Program Continues

After Action Reports - Although the 2010 elections are behind us, now is an excellent time to prepare materials and data for your after action report for your Service Voting Action Officer. It has been a year of many successful voting outreach activities, and your dedication and efforts should not go unnoticed. Your efforts will be reflected in your appraisal (military personnel) and submitting an after action report and sharing lessons learned and good ideas with other Voting Assistance Officers (VAO) are key to continued improvement of the absentee voting process.

Continuity Folders - Continuity of your program is of the utmost importance and if you are going on leave or transferring to a new assignment make sure your continuity folder gets to your successor. New VAOs are appointed frequently and may be unfamiliar with their duties and responsibilities. If you are a continuing VAO, a continuity file contains vital reference for the performance of your duties. For this reason, FVAP stresses the importance of developing and/or maintaining a voting continuity file that can be used year after year and passed on to your successor. For more information, visit http://www.fvap.gov/vao/continuityfolder.html.

Supplies - Ensure that you have an adequate supply of Federal Post Card Applications (FPCAs) on hand to distribute to every service member in your unit and their dependents. FVAP recommends that all citizens submit a new FPCA to their local election official in January of each year. Even though no elections for federal office are scheduled for next year, special elections are possible and the FPCA will act as a request for absentee ballots for any elections held in 2011. Additionally it will inform the local election official of your current mailing or email address. Supplies can be obtained through your Service chain of command at http://www.fvap.gov/vao/order.html.

Contact Us — FVAP is here 24 hours a day at 1-800-438-8683, DSN (312) 425-1584, via online chat or at vote@fvap.gov to answer all your questions regarding absentee voting. Follow FVAP on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/DoDFVAP and Twitter http://twitter.com/FVAP.

Additional information — We want your feedback! If you would like more information on the Federal Voting Assistance Program or need help with the absentee voting process, please contact FVAP at www.FVAP.gov, 1-800-438-8683, DSN (312) 425-1584, or at vote@fvap.gov. Toll-free phone numbers from 67 countries are listed at: www.fvap.gov/contact/tollfreephone.html.