State Representative Mike Dovilla (R-Berea) today joined in the announcement of the launch of a new program, Military Ready-to-Vote (MRV), a program designed to make it easier for military personnel to vote while in service to our country.

“As a U.S. Navy officer and Iraq war veteran, I am pleased to be working with Secretary Husted on the Military Ready-to-Vote, Ohio program,” said State Representative Mike Dovilla. “Our objective in advancing this project is to ensure that our deployed troops are able to exercise one of our most important civic duties as Americans: the right and responsibility to vote.”

Through the MRV program, Ohio soldiers on active duty can register and vote, get reminders about upcoming elections and important deadlines, and get other voting questions answered all in one place. More specifically, soldiers who will be on active duty during an election will be able to request an MRV packet, which will allow them to register to vote and request an absentee ballot for all elections in one calendar year, using the same, Federal Post Card Application form. Under Ohio law, military absentee ballots are mailed out 45 days prior to the election.

“The MRV program complements the recently enacted House Bill 224, a bipartisan bill I introduced in May that enjoyed unanimous support in both chambers of the General Assembly,” continued Dovilla. “With the critically important reforms in our law and this new initiative by the Secretary of State, we are working to ensure those who defend our rights on the front lines have their own right to vote defended at home.”

Recognizing that today’s soldiers effectively utilize technology to stay connected, the Secretary of State’s office, through the MRV program, will enable Ohio military personnel to sign up for electronic reminders via email and social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Additional information, such as finding out what issues and races will appear on a ballot and viewing election results will be available online via OhioMilitaryVotes.com. To help ensure each vote is counted, soldiers will also be able to track their completed ballots to ensure they were received and counted by local county board of elections.