Active-duty U.S. service members are complaining that the Pentagon has not given them enough absentee ballots to vote in time for Election Day, prompting three Republican congressmen to demand answers from Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
Reps. Brian Mast, (R-FL), Bill Huizenga (R-MI), and Mike Waltz (R-FL) sent a letter to Austin on Wednesday, saying they have “grave concern over deficiencies in the Defense Department’s protocols” when service members claimed absentee ballots had not been made available to them because their base’s stockpile was “depleted and had not been replenished.”
The service members, who were not named in the letter, also complained there has been “inadequate education” on how they are meant to vote while deployed on active duty, and with just four days until Election Day.
“Our nation’s brave men and women in uniform brought to our attention that there has been inadequate education at the administrative level on how to register to vote, request an absentee ballot, and fill in a federal write-in absentee ballot if their state-issued ballot does not arrive in time,” the lawmakers wrote.
“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.”
At the end of the letter, the congressmen asked Austin a series of questions to verify if the military had, in fact, diminished service members’ right to vote.
“Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have mobilized federal manpower, resources, and tax dollars to block state-level election integrity measures, including in Georgia and Virginia, through lawsuits and smears,” Mast said in a press release. “They claim to care about democracy and the right to vote, yet they’ve failed to plan accordingly to facilitate the right to vote for every single one of our nation’s brave men and women in uniform.”
“This is absolutely unacceptable,” he added. “Our nation’s elite warriors deserve to have every opportunity to vote for the next commander-in-chief, especially since that person will be making life-and-death decisions for our troops.”
According to Waltz, “Both Joe Biden & Kamala Harris have dismissed our warfighters serving in combat zones by either falsely claiming the U.S. has suffered no casualties under this administration or by claiming thousands of these service members aren’t in active combat zones.”
“We need assurances these service members who are putting their lives on the line for our country have the information and tools they need to cast their ballot to vote,” the Florida congressman stated.
Huizenga added that it is “completely unacceptable that our men and women serving overseas are not receiving the proper information and resources necessary to cast their ballot.”
“Sadly, this is the latest example of the Biden-Harris Administration failing to stand up for our servicemembers.”
The complaints were brought up “during recent visits with active duty service members,” the congressmen said.
In a statement to Fox News, a DOD official said that the number of voting materials are based on local need and demand.
“In addition to designating Voting Assistance Officers, every installation commander ensures voting assistance is included in the administrative in-processing as well as pre- and post- deployment checklists required of reporting and detaching personnel,” the official said.
