Republican lawmakers recently criticized the Biden-Harris administration over concerns of “deficiencies” in the Pentagon’s voting “protocols and procedures” for U.S. service members.
In a letter sent to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last Wednesday, Reps. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), Mike Waltz (R-Fla.), and Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) expressed “grave concern” regarding “deficiencies in the Defense Department’s protocols and procedures.” The Republican lawmakers claimed that the Pentagon has “not done enough to make our service members aware of their options for voting nor has it committed enough resources so the men and women wearing our nation’s uniform can exercise their right to vote.”
Mast, Waltz, and Huizenga warned Austin that U.S. service members had informed them that there had been “inadequate education” at the military’s administrative level regarding how service members could register to vote, request an absentee ballot, and use a federal write-in absentee ballot. The Republican lawmakers also told Austin that some service members had been told that military stockpiles of federal write-in absentee ballots were “depleted and had not been replenished.”
The lawmakers wrote, “The Pentagon must do everything in its power, so our nation’s elite warriors have every opportunity to make their voices heard this election cycle. This is especially important since voters will be deciding our next commander-in-chief- the person who will be making life-and-death decisions for our troops.”
The Republican representatives urged the Pentagon to “mobilize all the necessary resources” to ensure that every service member has the opportunity to vote in the 2024 election.
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In light of the alleged Pentagon “deficiencies,” Mast criticized the Biden-Harris administration, telling Fox News that the administration has used federal resources to block election integrity measures across the United States.
“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,” Mast said. “This is absolutely unacceptable.”
Waltz told Fox News that the Pentagon needs to give “assurances” that military members risking their lives for the United States have the “information and tools they need” to be able to vote in this year’s election.
In a statement to Fox News, Huizenga described the service members’ claims of military voting issues as “completely unacceptable.” Huizenga added, “Sadly, this is the latest example of the Biden-Harris Administration failing to stand up for our servicemembers.”
