A national organization is recognizing Washington and 14 other states for their efforts in helping members of the military vote.
One of the factors the Military Voter Protection Project looked at was the availability of electronic voting for military members away from home. As explained in today’s story on the upcoming primary, the state created legislation in 2010 requiring county elections officials to make online voting available for military members, people overseas and the disabled.
There is a process for military and overseas residents.
Dolores Gilmore, county elections manager, said county elections employees have no way of knowing who is disabled, so the online option is essentially available to every Kitsap County voter. You don’t actually vote online. What you do is download a PDF version of a ballot, with the option of marking it beforehand or not. You can then email, fax or mail the finished ballot. In all three cases you still have to turn in the signed affidavit that comes with your ballot. It’s the part you sign on the envelope.
More important to military members were the other factors cited by the Military Voter Protection Project.
The organization’s press release follows.
