Installation Voting Office now open Published Nov. 21, 2011 By 2nd Lt. Kwang Woong Kim 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wa. -- On Nov. 8, Fairchild Air Force Base officially opened its Installation Voting Assistance Office with a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Col. Paul Guemmer, 92nd Air Refueling Wing commander, Mr. Allard Carney, 92nd Air Refueling Wing Director of Staff, and the 92nd Installation Voting Assistance officers. In 2009, Congress passed the Military and Overseas Voting Empowerment Act after a study of seven states revealed that one in four military members overseas did not receive ballots for the 2008 general election and were unable to vote. The MOVE Act seeks to correct that by requiring states to send military and overseas voters their absentee ballots no later than 45 days prior to an election. Additionally, in the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress required all DOD installations to establish a voting assistance office to provide assistance and voter registration to authorized customers. "This new initiative represents the expansion of the military voting assistance program," said Capt. Maribel Jarzabek, 92nd Air Refueling Wing Installation Voting Assistance officer. "Our focus now expands beyond just our military personnel and those overseas. We now provide services to civilians, contractors and retirees requesting voting assistance." The IVA office is co-located with the Retiree Affairs Office in the ID card section of the Military Personnel Flight building. "I would like to highlight that with the primary and presidential elections coming up in a few months, the IVA office can assist Team Fairchild and all those with base access with updating addresses, voter registration and absentee ballot requests," said Jarzabek. "Our goal is to make sure that everyone's vote counts." The office is open to military personnel, civil service employees, contractors working on Fairchild, retirees and authorized dependents. Operating hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. The installation voting assistance representatives are also available during normal duty hours at 247-1142, 92ARWVOTE@us.af.mil, or by contacting a unit voting assistance officer. Additional voting information is available at www.fairchild.af.mil.
