US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered military commanders to give troops time away from their normal duties to vote ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The unusual directive requires commanders across the US military to designate a day for service members to focus on voting, registration and other election-related activities.
The stand-down must take place by October 15, weeks before Americans head to the polls on November 3.
But the order does not mean that the whole US military will simply stop operating for a day.
Commanders are still required to maintain operational and mission requirements, meaning deployments and other essential military activities can continue.
Instead, units are being told to give troops dedicated time to register, request absentee ballots, learn about voting requirements or cast their ballots where possible.
Hegseth said the idea came after learning how many members of the military were not registered to vote during the last presidential election.
More than 418,000 active-duty service members were not registered in 2024, according to figures cited by the Pentagon.
That stood out to Hegseth because military personnel can face voting difficulties that most Americans do not.
A service member stationed thousands of miles from home may still be registered in their home state, leaving them dependent on absentee ballots and deadlines that vary depending on where they are registered.
Frequent moves and overseas deployments can make the process even more complicated.
Hegseth said commanders should make sure those practical barriers do not prevent troops from participating in elections.
There is also a political line the Pentagon has to carefully maintain.
Active-duty service members are allowed to vote and express personal political opinions, but military rules restrict their participation in partisan political activities while acting in an official capacity.
Hegseth stressed that the Pentagon is encouraging troops to participate rather than telling them how to vote.
“We’re not telling them who to vote for. We’re telling them to vote,” he said.
The initiative is not intended to disappear after this year’s midterms.
Hegseth wants the voting stand-down to become a regular feature during future election years, potentially giving hundreds of thousands of American service members dedicated time to take part in elections.
2026-10-06 00:08:00
