Secretary of State details military, veteran, overseas voting op - Business, Government Legal News from throughout WV

West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant is taking advantage of National Military Voter Readiness day, Sept. 15, to remind military voters of all their options.

"We can never thank them enough for their service, but what we can do is make sure that there are as few obstacles as possible between these dedicated West Virginians and voting," Tennant said in a news release.

Tennant said all military voters should contact their unit Voting Assistance Officer, county clerks or her office for details about voting.

Deployed military and overseas citizens covered under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of 1986 have the option, according to information from Tennant's office, of having their absentee ballots delivered to them through a secure Internet connection.

Those ballots cannot be case online, but the online ballot delivery eliminates the days or weeks it would normally take to mail an absentee ballot to a remote location. The online ballot also may be marked to protect the vote, and it can be printed then mailed or scanned then sent to a county clerk attached to an email or by fax.

By emailing and faxing ballots, those voters waive their privacy because election workers will be able to see those ballots.

The online ballot delivery system is funded through an Electronic Absentee Systems for Elections grant from the Federal Voting Assistance Program, according to a news release from the West Virginia Secretary of State's office.

Tennant said veterans who are in VA hospitals or other facilities making them unable to travel to vote could cast absentee ballots.

West Virginia is among 15 states selected by the Military Voter Project as an "All Star State," because of its efforts to help military members vote.