State Elections Director Lori Augino, Secretary of State Wyman, Col. Will Phillips and FVAP Director Matt Boehmer. (Photo courtesy of Lori Augino)

Secretary of State Kim Wyman shared a personal story to explain why she is so enthused about the  Federal Voting Assistance Program and voting assistance officers who help Washington service members and their families register to vote and cast their ballots, sometimes from remote locations.

Secretary Wyman, along with Joint Base Lewis McChord Col. Will Phillips, FVAP Director Matt Boehmer and state and Pierce County election officials, told dozens of service members at the base that their outreach and practical voter assistance will help ensure our military members deployed all around the globe have every chance to participate in the upcoming election.

Wyman said personal experience makes her passionate about making sure Washington’s 65,000 military and overseas voters don’t miss out on the privilege and right of voting:

“When my husband John was stationed in Germany with the Army, he and I received our ballots the day after Election Day. When I became Elections Director in Thurston County, I vowed never to let the servicemen and women in my charge find themselves in the same situation.”

In the late 1990s, Wyman instituted the first email ballot program in Washington that helped expedite ballot delivery to military and overseas voters across the globe. It later became a model program adopted across the country. Wyman has long supported the work of the Pentagon and FVAP, and both she and state Elections Director Lori Augino have served on the leadership teams of the Council of State Government’s Overseas Voting Initiative.

The Federal Voting Assistance Program and Secretary of State staff also will be visiting and training our troops at Naval Base Kitsap and Naval Air Station Whidbey Island.