Base Voting Assistance Program ready to register Team Buckley members

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Scott McNabb
  • 460th Space Wing Public Affairs
The base Voting Assistance Program has a team of people trained and ready to help Buckley members 18 and up register to vote

"The ability to vote for who you choose is a cornerstone of American society and is what set us apart from the rest of the world in the formative stages of our past, in our present time and certainly will play a huge hand in our future as a nation," said Col. Clint Crosier, 460th Space Wing commander.

The foundation of the VAP is its volunteer force of representatives. The voting assistance officers and counselors are tasked with providing registration information and guidance to each member of their unit.

Maj. Todd Tomlin, Buckley's installation voting assistance officer, oversees the program. He said the unit voting officers and counselors have the most impact on the success of the program and its ability to help Team Buckley members register to vote.

"When people come in and inprocess, that should be one of the people that they see," said Major Tomlin. "Also the unit voting officers and counselors should be getting out to commanders calls. We have them rotating through the newcomer's orientation."

Major Tomlin said deployers will have the opportunity to vote wherever they serve down range. He said part of the pre-deployment checklist includes seeing the unit voting representative and getting squared away before leaving Buckley.

"So if they're going to a deployed site, they should be going with a Form 76, which gets them registered, in hand," he said. "And then those election officials, wherever their residency is, should be forwarding the information to them. I was in Iraq. I got it. I voted last year, and that opportunity should be afforded to all those individuals as well."

The commander said Buckley members need to take advantage of the services of the Buckley VAP.

"The Voting Assistance Program is an asset to the men and women of Buckley," said Colonel Crosier. "I encourage all of the base populace, 18 and older, to seek out their voting representatives and register."

Register to vote in Colorado and for a list of polling locations, go to: http://www.elections.colorado.gov/Default.aspx?PageMenuID=1465. The voter registration application is at the bottom.

Those who will be deployed or on temporary duty on the day of elections can register to vote absentee at: http://www.fvap.gov Instructions are included on the page.

To register to vote in another state, go to: http://www.fvap.gov/usm/usmfpca/index.htm. More links with additional information go to: http://www.afcrossroads.com/VoteFund/Vote/default.htm.

Buckley members can also e-mail any questions to vote@buckley.af.mil. For more information, to download voting information or to view the list of all Buckley unit voting representatives, go to the voting assistance link on the Buckley.mil site at http://www.buckley.af.mil/voting/index.asp.