The Loudoun County Democratic Committee is proud to join in the recognition of National Military Voter Readiness Day on September 15.

Virginia is home to more than 120,000 active duty, reserve, and National Guard personnel, spread across more than 30 major military installations, including the Pentagon. Some of those veterans are from Loudoun’s own Leesburg National Guard unit (C Company 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry), which served in Iraq in 2007 and 2008. It is vitally important that these service members and their dependents have the opportunity to vote in the November elections.

The Heroes Vote Initiative, in collaboration with Nonprofit Vote, created National Military Voter Readiness Day to raise awareness among military members and their spouses about the importance of voting. Their website (http://www.heroesvote.org/the-time-is-now/) contains links to help these military personnel and their dependents to register to vote and to request absentee ballots for voting by mail. (This LCDC website also has a page on voting in Loudoun, with links to Loudoun County information about registering and voting absentee. Look at Vote in Loudoun in the right-hand column.)

The deadline to register to vote in Loudoun County is Oct. 15, 22 days before Election Day. The deadline to apply to vote absentee by mail is Oct. 30. Completed absentee ballots must be received before the close of business on Election Day.

Virginia Democrats are proud to stand up for those serving in the military and their families. Retiring U.S. Senator Jim Webb, a former Marine and Secretary of the Navy, serves on the Senate Committee on Armed Services and the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. Sen. Webb has always made military and veterans’ issues a priority during his tenure in the Senate. His signature accomplishment is the passage of the Post 9/11 GI Bill, which increased educational benefits available to all members of the military who have served on active duty since September 11, 2001.

Gov. Tim Kaine, now a candidate for the Senate seat Webb is vacating, will show the same level of commitment to our veterans as Sen. Webb. Learn more about Gov. Kaine’s positions on the military and veterans at http://kaineforva.com/national_security.