Sharing a news release I received this afternoon on the Heroes Vote Initiative:
 

WASHINGTON - The Military Voter Protection Project (MVP) has launched a new initiative, the Heroes Vote Initiative, to ensure that America’s service members and their families have their voices heard on Election Day.

The Heroes Vote Initiative is the first and only nationwide campaign to encourage military voter participation and to provide those voters with the tools to register and request an absentee ballot.  As part of the initiative, MVP is creating strategic partnerships with local military and veterans groups, as well as state and local election officials, to make military voters a priority in this year’s election.

“It’s time for our men and women in uniform to have their voices heard on Election Day,” said Eric Eversole, the founder and executive director of MVP.  “For too long, our men and women in uniform have faced one road block after another when they attempt to vote.  The Heroes Vote Initiate not only addresses many of the systemic challenges faced by military voters, it creates a positive, community-based message to encourage military voter participation in our elections.”

The difficulties faced by military voters have been well documented in recent elections.  In 2008, thousands of absentee military ballots were sent to wrong addresses, lost in the mail or mailed too close to the election for the ballot to be returned.  To make matters worse, thousands of ballots were rejected by local election officials because the ballot—through no fault of the military voter—arrived after the election.

Unfortunately, these same problems continued to plague military voters in 2010.  MVP’s comprehensive analysis of that election showed that less than 5 percent of 2.5 million military voters had an absentee ballot that counted in the 2010 election.  Once again, thousands of military absentee ballots were lost in the mail, delivered too late or never delivered at all.

The Heroes Vote Initiative will tackle these challenges by assisting military voters through a variety of web-based programs and online solutions.  In addition, it is planning to host or participate in military voter registration activities throughout the United States.

For more information about the Heroes Vote Initiative, please visit www.heroesvote.org.

-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl