New Voting Assistance Office opens in Building 3000

  • Published
  • By Edward Cain
  • Installation Voting Assistance Officer
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  It's time to request absentee ballots! With the general election swiftly approaching, Edwards AFB is encouraging all military and voting age family members to request absentee ballots from their home states in a timely fashion. Many states will require up to six weeks to return absentee ballots to our military members stationed at Edwards or overseas, so now would be the time to mail in the request forms to your home state election officials. Request forms may be obtained in various locations on base and on-line at www.fvap.gov.

Also, the base has recently opened a dedicated Installation Voter Assistance office located in the Military Personnel Facility in Bldg. 3000. The IVA office is located on the first floor - in the back just across from the vending machines. The IVA Office is operated on a "self-serve" basis where computer access to the website above will direct you to all the information needed to request absentee ballots. Also, there is contact information in the office for immediate personal service if further assistance is required.

The request forms do not require postage, but will need the correct address of the local election office in the county of your residence. This address may be obtained from the Voting Assistance Guide, which is on-line in addition to all locations on base where you may obtain the forms.

Absentee ballot request forms and Federal Write-in Ballots can be picked up at Military Personnel Facility in Bldg. 3000, the Base and Children's Libraries, the Judge Advocate Office in Bldg. 1, the U.S. Post Office on base, or by visiting www.fvap.gov.

Edwards has numerous resources available to make sure everyone has the opportunity to vote.

The Installation Voting Assistance Officer is Edward Cain and he can be reached at 277-6172.  The Alternate Installation Voting Assistance Officer is TSgt Richard Duarte and he can be reached at 277-4421.

Additionally, the Edwards Voting hot line can be reached at 275-VOTE (8683), and there is an Email hot line, which is vote@edwards.af.mil.

Anyone who has questions regarding residency requirements on a state-by-state basis should visit the Judge Advocate's office in Bldg. 1 Monday, Wednesday and Friday between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., or Tuesday and Thursday between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.

The Edwards Voting Website can be accessed through the Air Force Portal. Once you are in the Portal, simply scroll over to "Bases-Orgs-Functional Area", click "My Base", go to the left hand side column and scroll over to "Newcomers/Base Guide," then click "Voting Assistance Information" at the bottom of the list. The new "Voting Assistance Guide for 2012-13" is located there.

Absentee Ballot requests may also be made on-line. Go to www.fvap.gov and look for the link under "Quick Links" at the bottom of the right column. Or simply click the "Get Started" button and follow the links to your state. It's that easy!