10th Mountain soldiers eager for voting forms

FORT DRUM — With 26 days until the presidential election, time is ticking for soldiers who need to get absentee ballots in to their home states if they want their votes to count.

“There were four soldiers that came to my desk today asking for the forms,” Sgt. Aaron D. Shumaker said in a phone interview. Sgt. Shumaker is voting assistance officer with the 10th Mountain Division Command that is deployed to Baghdad, Iraq. “Usually you have to go out and find the soldiers, and it seems like they are coming to find us. We are trying to make sure that our soldiers know that while it may be Oct. 8 right now, it’s not too late to get the ballot in the mail.”

Before deploying in May, the 10th Mountain Division Command prepared soldiers for the fall presidential election by providing information on registration and making sure there were enough forms for when the command got to Baghdad. Since the summer, voting drives have been held by the 10th Mountain Division, which oversees the Multinational Division-Center and approximately 20,000 American soldiers from several Army units.

“Some people don’t realize it’s important to do the process early,” Capt. Douglas A. Ingold said by phone. He is the senior voting assistance officer for the 10th Mountain Division Command and MND-C. “Fortunately we were really early and our soldiers were given the opportunity twice once we got into theater and did another set of campaigns.”

During a deployment, the mail service gives priority to ballots and voter registration forms to ensure the mail gets to the destination in time for deadlines. Soldiers also can file for a backup absentee ballot if they do not receive the one that was originally requested.

At Fort Drum, there is the same push happening to get soldiers and families registered to vote and provide information on where to obtain absentee ballots. The most complex part is making sure that all the information for each state is up to date — but a large, inch-thick binder contains the details.

The Army historically has been composed of soldiers from ages 18 to 25 — the same age range that typically has not turned out in large numbers to vote. This is also the age range that many political pundits believe will have the largest sway in the upcoming election between Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and Sen. John McCain of Arizona. Sgt. Shumaker and Capt. Ingold said they have seen an increase in the number of soldiers from that age range who are interested in voting in this election.

“Soldiers know better than most Americans what countries without the right to vote — or speak, or redress grievances — look like, and we appreciate our right to vote,” said Maj. Gen. Michael L. Oates, commander for the 10th Mountain Division and MND-C. “Iraqis will turn out in record numbers to vote this year — many with little real knowledge of democracy, but with a conviction that for once their voice will in some small way chart the future of Iraq.”

Answers to questions on deadlines for absentee ballots in different states can be found on the Federal Voting Assistance Program Web site or by stopping into the Human Resource Directorate at Clark Hall on Fort Drum.

Steps are being taken to improve absentee voting technologically for soldiers who are deployed and the Department of Defense is working with states on details for voting online.

“One problem is that not every soldier in theater has access to a computer,” Capt. Ingold said. “So there will always be a need for hard copies of ballots.”