Iowa, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Oregon Recognized for Extraordinary Efforts to Protect Military Voters

[Twana Blevins]

MVPP

August 16, 2012

Four states added to Military Voter Protection Project list of All-Stars

For Immediate Release: August 16, 2012
Contact: Liz Snyder Bowman, 202-789-4365

WASHINGTON – Iowa, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Oregon were named All-Star states by the Military Voter Protection Project’s 2012 Heroes Vote Initiative today for their leadership in promoting and protecting the voting rights of America’s military service members and their families.

“We are committed to finding states that are working hard to promote and protect the voting rights of America’s heroes,” said Eric Eversole, founder and executive director of the Military Voter Protection Project (MVP). “Iowa, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Oregon have made a tremendous commitment to the voting rights of our men and women in uniform, and we are excited to add them to our list of All-Star States.”

With the addition of these states, the MVP Project’s 2012 Heroes Vote Initiative now has 19 states on its All-Star states list, in recognition of their extraordinary efforts. The All-Star states currently include: Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.

In analyzing these states, the MVP Project looked at a number of factors including:

• The state’s efforts to work with and reach out to local military installations and National Guard units on a proactive basis to provide on-base voter assistance;
• Its use of electronic and web-based services to send election materials;
• Its willingness to create specialized communications to military voters either through public service announcements or web-based announcements;
• The state’s legislative efforts to eliminate barriers to military voter participation; and
• Its track record of making sure that absentee military ballots are sent out no later than 45-days before the election and, when they are not, a high degree of accountability to resolve any violations.

For more information about the Military Voter Protection Project’s Heroes Vote Initiative or to view details about the MVP Project’s All-Star states, please visit http://www.heroesvote.org/.

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[1znjqbjyeh8zz]

We should all write a "Thank you" e-mail to the 19 governors of these fine states. They deserve to hear from We the People when they get it right, too. 

[Paul L Balaich]

I am in the process of thanking the Governor's who are actively involved to protect the military voter.  Paul Balaich, MSgt USAF - Retired.

[1znjqbjyeh8zz]

Here is a handy website for easily e-mailing the 19 state governors. I just finished

http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Governors.shtml

[Lawrence Yarborough]

   Hats off to the MVPP. These people are doing a wonderful job they should not have to do.Its a shame that some people in Washington would rather help ilegals vote than help our men and women in uniform.