Troops will get a day off to vote or register for November elections

Military members will get a day to register to vote or to submit ballots in the coming two weeks after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed a department-wide one-day stand-down so service members can advance the voting process.

Commanders will need to complete the stand-down no later than Oct. 15.

“Now, we’re not telling you who to vote for, but we will give you every opportunity to do so,” Hegseth said on a social media video. 

Voting patterns among the military generally mirror that of the general public. According to the Federal Voter Assistance Program, slightly less than half of active-duty members voted in the last three presidential elections, but closer to just a quarter have voted in recent off-year elections, when many members of Congress are up for election but the presidency is not. About 47% of active duty voted in 2020, 42% in 2024, the FVAP said. But only 27% of eligible troops voted in 2022.

Service members can request ballots from their home state with Federal Post Card Applications. The stand down will let troops talk to voting assistance officers about state-specific requirements and how to register to vote. Commanders will also allow service members flexibility to help spouses and dependents with the same process.

Hegseth’s voter push is at odds with a string of legal efforts undertaken by other branches of the Trump administration aimed at limiting voting by mail. Trump has long insisted that voting by mail is rife with fraud and lobbied for its abolishment, calling it “mail-in-cheating.” Two weeks ago, after a defeat in court, Trump called the system a “totally corrupt and out of control mail-in voting ‘disaster,’ which is a laughing stock all over the world.”

Trump issued an executive order earlier this year requiring the U.S. Postal Service to accept ballot envelopes that had specific barcodes, effectively giving USPS control over mail-in voting. Last month the Supreme Court struck down most of the order.