We’ve just finished a cool new video that chronicles efforts on behalf of our office to assist military voters.

Watch the video here.

Entitled “Serving Those Who Serve – A Guide to Military Voting in Washington State,” the approximately 10 minute video aims to educate military members living in Washington or overseas, a group of voters who represent one of the most mobile demographics.

Washington has a large military population, and almost 50,000 registered military voters. The state enjoys a large concentration of major military bases, representing land, air and sea branches.  Joint Base Lewis-McChord located in Pierce and Thurston Counties is the largest military base on the West Coast.

The video discusses the history of moving Washington’s primary elections earlier to aid service members, logistical challenges of sending and receiving ballots in remote locations, voting innovations pioneered by the Office of Secretary of State, and information on registering and updating voter registration information.

The state Elections Division has been recognized as a national leader in military voting, receiving recognition from Congress and the Department of Defense. In 2008, Pew Research ranked Washington second among states for the lowest rate of rejected military ballots.

Secretary of State Kim Wyman and former Secretary of State Sam Reed both are featured in the video. Wyman and her staff are strong supporters of the military and stress that soldiers remain connected to their community in the most fundamental way possible, through voting a ballot, no matter where they are located in the world.

“Military service should not prevent soldiers from exercising their own rights as citizens,” Wyman says. “I hope all soldiers will take part in the decisions that impact their families at home. My office will continue to ensure that soldiers have the ability to participate in our elections.”

Watch the video here. Enjoy!