By MOAA Staff

The MOAA Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) subsidiary of MOAA, has launched its 2019 active duty military family voter outreach campaign, this one to be conducted in the five states with gubernatorial or state legislative elections in November. The project is being funded through a grant from the Democracy Fund.

The last outreach campaign was held during the run-up to the 2018 midterm elections and resulted in approximately 95,000 unique page visits to the MOAA active duty voter portal and more than 3,200 downloads of the white paper providing critical registration and absentee voting information.

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The MOAA Foundation has designed its voter outreach campaigns based on the findings of a 2017 survey funded through a Democracy Fund grant and conducted in collaboration with Syracuse University’s Institute for Veteran and Military Families (IVMF). The survey assessed the absentee voting experiences and perceptions of active duty and veteran families.

Among other things, it found that active duty families, particularly active duty spouses, participate at significantly lower rates in state and local elections. To address that finding, the MOAA Foundation has updated its active duty military family voting portal at www.MOAA.org/Vote to guide active duty families residing in Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia – the five states with 2019 “off year” state elections – through the registration, absentee voting, early voting and Election Day voting processes. 

“MOAA is proud to continue this important collaborative effort to help ensure the voices of all military families are heard through the electoral process,” said Lt. Gen. Dana T. Atkins, USAF (Ret), president and CEO of MOAA.

“The voting process for active duty families can be daunting,” said Col. Mike Turner, vice president of development for MOAA. “Our updated active duty family voter portal at www.MOAA.org/Vote is designed to guide visitors who reside in one of the five states with gubernatorial or state legislative elections in 2019 through the registration and voting process no matter what their location or situation.”

The Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) recommends all active duty families update their residency information at www.FVAP.gov at least once a year; active duty families planning to vote by absentee ballot this year can also order their absentee ballots at www.FVAP.gov. Active duty families planning to vote early or on Election Day in their state of residence can visit www.MOAA.org/Vote and be guided to the proper state website to learn more about their state elections and take action in time for this year’s November election cycle.

“MOAA’s highly respected voice allows them to speak directly to military voters and help all military family members understand the voting process and their voting rights as citizens,” said Trevor Ostbye, program associate for the Elections Team at the Democracy Fund. He added, “The Democracy Fund is committed to ensuring service members and their families share in the freedom to vote – no matter where they are."