[Editor's Note: On Oct. 30, 2018, the MOAA Military Family Initiative (MMFI) formally changed its name to the MOAA Foundation (TMF).]
Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) is teaming up with researchers at Syracuse University to study absentee voting challenges that active duty servicemembers face each election cycle.
Your participation could have a positive impact on voter turnout and could lead to improvements to the absentee-voting process.
The nonpartisan survey, conducted by MOAA's charitable foundation, MOAA Military Family Initiative (MMFI), and the university's Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF), will gather information from active duty servicemembers, Guard and Reserve members, veterans as well as their families in order to study this select group's perceptions of the voting and absentee voting processes. Participation in the survey is voluntary and will remain anonymous.
The wide-ranging survey topics cover voting challenges, outside influences on elections, and voter habits.
Take the Survey Here:
“This educational report will complement MOAA's vital advocacy work on behalf of military families and reinforce an important theme: 'You, through your vote, are your most powerful advocate,'” says Col. Mike Turner, USAF (Ret), vice president of development at MOAA. “MOAA and the IVMF are highly respected voices within the military family community, and we believe this report will provide important insights, hopefully leading to greater military family participation in the voting process.”
In 2016, through a project funded by the Democracy Fund, MMFI conducted an outreach campaign to inform and educate military families about absentee voting. Project outcomes suggested a need to better understand these families' perceptions and understanding of the absentee voting process and use those findings to help increase military family participation in the voting process.
By analyzing survey responses, the foundation and university hope to identify perceived obstacles, dispel myths, and - wherever possible - identify best practices for military family voters and state boards of elections.
MOAA will publish a report containing the university's and foundation's analysis and any suggested actions early this summer, allotting time for public review prior to many state's voter registration deadlines and well ahead of the November midterm congressional elections. MMFI representatives also regularly attend meetings of the National Association of Secretaries of State who are in charge of their state's voting process. The report will better inform state leaders as they administer their state absentee voting systems.
The study and report are made possible by a grant from the Democracy Fund, a bipartisan foundation that invests in organizations working to ensure every American's vote is counted. The Democracy Fund also helped MOAA launch its Absentee Voting Guide in 2016.
MOAA previously has teamed with Syracuse University to study military spouse employment issues. The resulting 2014 report prompted the Trump administration to examine ways to improve military spouse employment.
Take the Survey Here: