ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla -- If you haven’t noticed yet, 2016 is an election year; that means this is your chance to vote for local, regional, and national level candidates. Before you can cast your ballot you must register to vote and the Altus Air Force Base voting assistance team is here to help.
The Installation Voter Assistance Office will be working to contact every eligible voter that works on Altus AFB Jan. 1-15, to make sure people are aware of their options and to help with the registration process.
“We make sure people know of and have their right to vote,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Shaun Westphal, 97th Air Mobility Wing installation voting assistance officer. “There are a few different methods and options when registering and we are here to assist people if needed.”
The IVAO recommends using the voter registration website https://www.fvap.gov/. “We call it a one-stop-shop for voting,” said Westphal.
With permanent change of stations, deployments and temporary duty assignments it could be easy to feel overwhelmed when considering how and where you will vote.
“This site is very easy to use,” said Westphal. “Once at the FVAP site, it describes your state requirements for everything.” The site will give you all the necessary information to register. You just need to know your state of legal residence and your military status.
Fvap.gov and the IVAO services aren’t just for active duty members, but can be useful to any eligible voter in their household as well as provide information to non-military affiliated voters.
“The FVAP website is a great resource on finding information on voting for any region and dates for local and national elections. We’re here for the people of the base; active duty, families, civilians, contractors, even those separating or retiring, we can help point them to their local election officials,” said Westphal. “We’d also like to remind everyone to re-register using the Federal Post Card Application should they change their address. This way, your local election official will have an accurate address to send your ballot to.”
Although the IVAO will be contacting everyone on base until Jan. 15, Westphal says you may register any time online. If you have any questions or need help please call 580-481-1325 or stop by the Airman and Family Readiness Center.