Get Out and Vote: VVA Urges Veterans to be Visible on Election Day

(Washington, D.C. ) – Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) today announced a new Internet web site, in collaboration with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, that will help veterans to register and vote in the upcoming elections:  http://VetsVoteAmerica.org 

“This is an important step forward in pushing for even greater voter participation by veterans,” VVA National President John Rowan said, “and to make sure that their fellow citizens know they are veterans.”

Recently the Secretary of Veterans Affairs launched a “Veterans’ Pride” program to encourage all veterans to wear their medals and campaign ribbons on Veterans Day, Memorial Day, and the Fourth of July as a way of visibly taking pride in their service.

“While Vietnam Veterans of America believes the Veterans’ Pride program is a good idea,” Rowan said, “it is even more important for veterans to wear their medals and campaign ribbons, or anything else that identifies them as a veteran or a veteran’s family member, when going to the polls on Election Day.

“We also ask all veterans and their families to encourage other veterans, family members, and survivors to do the same thing on November 7.  Veterans and their families do vote in large numbers, but they are generally not wearing anything that identifies them as veterans at the polls. That is how the myth of veterans not voting in significant numbers got started. We must be more visible as veterans and as family members of veterans and active-duty service members when we vote.”

Many elected officials falsely believe that veterans don’t vote in significant numbers. This diminishes the ability of veterans to press for needed appropriations and other legislation. Rowan urged the leaders of other veterans and military organizations to launch similar efforts.

“Nobody would have the opportunity to vote in a free election in the United States if it were not for the sacrifices and hardships borne by every generation of American veterans from the Revolutionary War to the present,” Rowan said.

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