A post shared on X claims that the Pentagon failed to send absentee ballots to active-duty service members.

BREAKING: The Pentagon reportedly failed to send absentee ballots to active military service members before the election.

— Patrick Webb (@RealPatrickWebb) November 3, 2024

Verdict: Misleading

Local election officials, not the Pentagon, are responsible for sending ballots to service members. A group of Republican Congressmen did state that the “response that the base’s stockpile of these ballots was depleted and had not been replenished.”

Fact Check:

The Pentagon, though, is not responsible for sending ballots to service members, according to the Federal Voting Assistance Program. In order to receive an absentee ballot, troops must request one from their state, which will be sent by election officials, per the website.

“FVAP encourages the use of the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) to start the absentee voting process as it is standardized for use across all States and will extend your eligibility to receive a ballot for all federal elections for at least one calendar year. The FPCA acts as both a registration and absentee ballot request form. We encourage our military voters to submit a new FPCA every year and when they move,” reads the website.

A Pentagon spokesperson told Check Your Fact that the “Pentagon is not responsible for sending out ballots; each State manages their own election processes.” Mike Nelson, a U.S. military veteran, stated on X that the Pentagon does not send absentee ballots. (RELATED: Did Donald Trump Call For Liz Cheney To Be Executed?)

That’s weird since the Pentagon doesn’t send out absentee ballots. Almost like this is some chum in the water. https://t.co/ZQM67lzCQJ

— Mike Nelson (@mikenelson586) November 3, 2024

The claim appears to originate from a letter sent by Republican Members of Congress to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who alleged in a press statement that the Pentagon had “negligence in facilitating the ability of every active duty armed service member across the nation and overseas to vote this election cycle.”

The press release states, “Some service members have even reported that requests for federal write-in absentee ballots were sometimes met with the response that the base’s stockpile of these ballots was depleted and had not been replenished.”

The press release also states that it called on the Pentagon for providing more education for troops on how to get their absentee ballot, noting it called for Austin to make available “every resource available to facilitate voting by American armed service members, pursuant to federal and state regulations governing elections.”