Oregon honored for military voter efforts

Oregon was recognized as an All-Star state Thursday by the Military Voter Protection (MVP) Project for taking significant efforts to promote and protect the voting rights of America’s military service members and their families.

“Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown has long demonstrated her commitment to the voting rights of our men and women in uniform, especially through the use of technology including iPads and internet tools,” said Eric Eversole, founder and executive director of the Military Voter Protection Project. “These efforts will help ensure that our service members can vote, regardless of where duty takes them.”

In analyzing these states, the MVP Project looked at a number of factors, including:

The state’s efforts to work with and reach out to local military installations and National Guard units on a proactive basis to provide on-base voter assistance;

Its use of electronic and web-based services to send election materials;

Its willingness to create specialized communications to military voters either through public service announcements or web-based announcements;

The state’s legislative efforts to eliminate barriers to military voter participation; and

Its track record of making sure that absentee military ballots are sent out no later than 45 days before the election and, when they are not, a high degree of accountability to resolve any violations.

You can view the Oregon All-Star page at: www.heroesvote.org/all-star-states/oregon/.

“It truly is an honor to be recognized for our extraordinary efforts in protecting the voting rights of Oregon’s service members and their families,” said Secretary of State Kate Brown.

All-Star states list include: Oregon, Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.

For more information about the Military Voter Protection Project’s Heroes Vote Initiative or to view details about the MVP Project All-Star states, please visit http://www.heroesvote.org/.