Service members to get time for mail-in or in-person voting
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday that all U.S. service members will receive a day off in October to vote in the midterm elections, a military-wide stand-down he said was designated by President Donald Trump. The order directs commanders at every level to give troops time to send in their mail-in ballots or vote in person, Hegseth said.
“The Department of War is committed to ensuring that all service members and their eligible family members can exercise their right to vote,” Hegseth wrote in a Thursday memo, according to United Press International, which first reported the order. Hegseth followed the memo with a video announcement posted to X on Friday.
In the video, Hegseth said: “I am directing all commanders and supervisors at every level to conduct a one-day stand-down in the month of October. Every warrior will be given the opportunity to vote.” He said the stand-down would give troops time to send in their mail-in ballots or vote in person.
The order applies to service members across the armed forces, and Hegseth’s voting-access language extends to eligible family members as well. Hegseth’s memo referred to the department as the “Department of War,” and the X post was signed “Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar).”
The voting-access initiative is separate from the administration’s parallel efforts on mail-in balloting. According to UPI, the Trump administration has separately worked to restrict mail-in voting across the country, with the federal government moving to oversee state voter lists — a step that has prompted states to challenge the oversight.
UPI’s report did not specify which October date the stand-down would fall on, nor whether the day would be set uniformly across units or left to local commanders’ discretion.