Federal Voting Assistance Program

  • Published
  • By Michael Primo, Installation Voting Assistance Officer
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  As Congress and the courts have affirmed, voting is a citizen's most fundamental right. The Department of Defense continues to increase its emphasis on the Federal Voting Assistance Program.

Members of the military, their families and U.S. citizens living abroad can face unique challenges to participating in U.S. elections.

The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act was amended by the 2009 Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act, which established new voter registration and absentee ballot procedures.

Since adoption of the MOVE Act, the U.S. Air Force has developed an Installation Voting Assistance Office.

Historically, the IVAO team's responsibilities have been performed by active-duty personnel as an additional duty.

Recently, the U.S. Air Force decided to move the IVAO position and responsibilities to the Airman and Family Readiness Center to ensure continuity of the program.

Malmstrom Air Force Base’s IVAO team is comprised of a primary, Michael Primo, and alternate, David Burger, installation voting officer to inform communities about the voting process and provide voter materials to eligible voters, including Department of the Air Force civilian personnel who request voter information and guidance.

This includes material on the voting process, requesting absentee ballots and mailing the completed ballots.

With 2020 being an election year, and unless you are a resident of Montana, you will have to use the absentee voting process to cast your ballots.

Every state has its own election dates and voting deadlines.

The fastest and easiest way to locate your state’s election dates and registration or voting deadlines is to visit the FVAP website at www.fvap.gov.

Select your state using the dropdown menu in the middle of the page and you will have all the voting information right there at your fingertips.

If you need further assistance, contact your unit voting assistance officer. Currently, every unit has at least two UVAOs appointed by the unit commander to provide voter assistance to their assigned members.

If you do not know who your UVAOs are, please contact the installation voting assistance office either in-person in the A&FC in Bldg. 800, e-mail 341mw.vote@us.af.mil or call 731-2786.