Three Republican lawmakers are claiming that U.S. troops have been told that the military faces a shortage of backup absentee ballots that would allow them to vote in tomorrow’s election.
But a veterans group argues that the lawmakers’ point is moot because it’s not the Department of Defense’s job to hand out federal absentee ballots.
“The Department of Defense does not directly distribute absentee ballots to military personnel stationed overseas or away from their home state,” said former Marine Capt. Janessa Goldbeck, CEO of Vet Voice Foundation, a non-profit and non-partisan organization that seeks to empower veterans to become civic leaders and policy advocates.
This latest controversy about overseas military voting involves troops’ access to Federal Write-in Absentee Ballots, or FWABs, which service members can receive if they have not gotten absentee ballots from their home states. FWABs are available online so that service members and military families overseas can print them out and mail them, according to the Defense Department.
However, in an Oct. 30 letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, three members of the House of Representatives wrote that they have heard from U.S. troops who feel the military has not done enough to tell them how to request and fill out FWABs.
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“Other service members also stated that when a request for a federal write-in absentee ballot was made, they were told the base’s stockpile of such ballots was depleted and had not been replenished,” wrote Reps Brian Mast (R-Fla.), Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.), and Mike Waltz (R-Fla.). “We have heard similar complaints from other service members.”
The letter did not specify where these service members are deployed or why they are unable to download and print the ballots themselves.
The lawmakers sent Austin a series of questions including whether the Defense Department has enough FWABs for service members nationwide to vote if they do not receive their state absentee ballots in time.
A defense official declined to comment on the issues raised by the three members of Congress, explaining that, “As with all congressional correspondence, the Department will respond directly to the author(s).”
For the 2024 election cycle, the Defense Department’s Federal Voting Assistance Program has trained more than 3,000 Voting Assistance Officers, who work on installations and units to ensure that military voters understand their voting rights, how to access voting information and materials, and how to vote absentee, the defense official told Task & Purpose.
Each state has its own regulations on how to submit absentee ballots, the official said, adding that some require the ballots to be faxed or mailed.
Service members who are having issues getting FWABs should speak with their voting assistance officers and their state election offices for their state absentee ballots, the official said. More information is available at FVAP.gov.
Goldbeck noted that FWABs can be downloaded and printed any time, up to and including on Election Day.
During her time in the Marine Corps, Goldbeck served as a voting assistance officer, she said.
“I helped guide Marines in requesting ballots from their local election offices, which handle distribution,” she said. “The DoD provides resources, not ballots.”