Alliances Demonstrate Growing Support for OVF

For Immediate Release
New Alliances Demonstrate Growing Support for Overseas Vote Foundation
Overseas Citizen and Military Voter Outreach Broadens

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO, July 11, 2006 – Overseas Vote Foundation (OVF) today announced a sweeping list of new Alliance Partners including the League of Women Voters, the National Campus Voter Registration Project, the National Defense Committee, the Federation of American Women’s Clubs Overseas and the Election Administration Research Center, University of California, Berkeley.

The new OVF Alliance Partners join the National Association of Secretaries of State to establish a broad spectrum of support for Overseas Vote Foundation. Each OVF Alliance Partner furthers OVF’s outreach efforts toward a new community of voters or voter-oriented organizations. All OVF Alliance Partners plan to run the VOTERTOOLS™* Platform, targeted for release in August 2006. [*See OVF press release: Overseas Vote Foundation Previews VOTERTOOLS™ Platform, July 11, 2006]

“We are encouraged by the level of engagement our Alliance Partners exhibit, including their participation on the OVF Advisory Board. Together our Alliance Partners represent a strong and diverse underpinning of support for the mission of Overseas Vote Foundation,” stated Susan Dzieduszycka-Suinat, OVF Executive Director. “This action from our Alliance Partners is evidence that more organizations recognize that working with OVF they can effectively reach overseas and military voters who were often inadvertently left out of core voter registration and GOTV efforts,” continued Ms. Dzieduszycka-Suinat.

League of Women Voters (LWV) http://www.lwv.org: “The League will work with OVF to reach overseas and military voters with a voter service message they can truly use. We are delighted to be able to run the VOTERTOOLS Platform on our Web site for the 2006 election – this marks the first time the League will have an effective way to reach overseas voters who may need our voter services,” said Mary G. Wilson, President, League of Women Voters.

National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, National Campus Voter Registration Project (NAICU/NCVRP) http://www.naicu.edu/VoteVoice2006/index.html: “This generation of students abroad looks to the Internet first for everything including voting. The program has to be easy and approachable. We like OVF’s fresh and innovative approach with their services and now the VOTERTOOLS Platform. It’s what the student community overseas will respond to with enthusiasm,” stated Robert “Bo” Newsome, Director of Outreach and State Relations, NAICU/NCVRP.

Federation of American Women’s Clubs Overseas (FAWCO) http://www.fawco.org: “Our long-term commitment to hands-on overseas voter registration through an extensive international network of clubs puts FAWCO in an excellent position to take advantage of an alliance with OVF and the planned VOTERTOOLS Platform. We’re excited to bring these new voter services forth,” said Mary Stewart Burgher, Overseas Voter Registration Chair, FAWCO.

National Defense Committee, (NDC) http://www.nationaldefensecommittee.org/: “The assistance provided through OVF’s RAVA online voter registration service to active duty military and their spouses and family members is precisely what they need. It simultaneously reduces the burden of implementing a manual program while it increases the level of enfranchisement,” said Rear Admiral [Ret.] James J. Carey, Founder and President of the NDC.

Election Administration Research Center (EARC), University of California, Berkeley http://earc.berkeley.edu/: “The collaboration with OVF will allow EARC to expand its research into an entirely new realm. OVF is the only organization that has tirelessly built trust with overseas voters, and has maintained ongoing contacts with voters across geographic and party lines. EARC and OVF will jointly conduct the 2006 post election research study. The study's goal is to assist voters and election administrators who facilitate the often very complex system of overseas voting. We are excited by this new partnership,” stated Karin Mac Donald, Director, EARC.

National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) http://www.nass.org: “OVF is providing NASS with an easy-to-use online tool that will enable military and overseas voters who visit our Web site to quickly locate their local election officials’ contact information and to access voter registration information and complete the Federal Postcard Application online We see their service as an invaluable tool for UOCAVA* voters,” said Leslie Reynolds, Executive Director, NASS.

*Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act

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Further Information

Overseas Vote Foundation (OVF) www.overseasvotefoundation.org, founded in 2005, is the only nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) public charity organization dedicated solely to serving the voter registration needs of UOCAVA voters. OVF assists eligible Americans in registering to vote in federal elections with RAVA, www.ovf-rava.org, (Registration and Absentee Voter Application) a secure, Internet-based system that provides a complete voter registration solution for both overseas civilians and active-duty military voters. Additional OVF programs include an online Voter Help Desk Support Service and the OVF Election Official Directory.

VOTERTOOLS™ is a trademark of NJOOT Technologies, Inc

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