Pete Hegseth urges U.S. military personnel to register and vote

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is urging active-duty service members and their families to register and vote in the 2026 midterm elections. Hegseth noted that approximately 300,000 troops were not registered during the 2024 election cycle. To assist, he directed personnel to the Federal Voting Assistance Program to help with registration and absentee ballots.

While Hegseth explicitly instructed commanders not to influence political choices—stating, “You’re not telling them who to vote for. You’re just telling them to vote”—his message has drawn criticism. Critics, including former Democratic National Committee chair Donna Brazile, have accused him of politicizing the military after he compared the number of unregistered troops to the total ballots cast in Democratic-leaning cities such as Detroit, Boston, Milwaukee, and Seattle.

Data from the Federal Voting Assistance Program indicates that roughly 67% of active-duty service members were registered for the 2024 election, a three percentage point decrease from 2020. The Pentagon’s 2026 plan includes directing voting-assistance officers to conduct outreach and help troops complete registration forms.