Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is encouraging U.S. military service members and their families to register to vote and participate in the upcoming midterm elections. He highlighted the availability of federal postcards for voter registration and absentee ballots, which allow service members to vote even if they are deployed overseas. Hegseth emphasized that those facing delays with standard ballots can use federal write-in absentee ballots, a legal option designed to ensure all service members can vote with confidence. President Donald Trump and members of his administration have argued that restrictions on mail-in voting, which they have proposed, do not apply to military personnel. However, voting rights advocates and legal experts have raised concerns about the reliability of the U.S. Postal Service in delivering mail-in ballots, especially for those overseas. Daniel C. Schwartz, chair of the National Security Leaders for America’s Legal Advisory Committee, warned that the proposed changes could lead to the disenfranchisement of military service members and overseas voters. The Supreme Court recently blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to implement these restrictions, allowing states to continue using their current voting procedures. The Supreme Court’s decision in September stopped the administration from requiring states to use a standardized ballot envelope and submit voter lists through an online portal. This would have allowed the U.S. Postal Service to refuse mail-in ballots from states that did not comply. The ruling came just weeks before Election Day. Doris Speer, president of the Association of Americans Resident Overseas, said the changes could cause confusion and chaos for overseas voters. Susan Dzieduszycka-Suinat, president of the U.S. Vote Foundation, noted that many overseas voters had already sent in their ballots despite the proposed changes. According to the Federal Voting Assistance Program, about 67% of active-duty U.S. troops were registered to vote in the 2024 election, a slight decrease from the 2020 election. Nearly three-quarters of the country’s 1.3 million active-duty service members are eligible to vote absentee this year. Hegseth’s support for broad access to absentee ballots contrasts with Trump’s position. After losing at the Supreme Court, Trump continues to push for his election reform bill, the SAVE America Act, which critics say could still impact overseas and military voters. The White House has stated that the act includes exceptions for mail-in voting in cases of illness, disability, military service, or travel, but opposes universal mail-in voting due to concerns about fraud. Trump has referred to mail-in voting as "mail-in cheating" and called it "inherently corrupt," using the State of the Union Address to call for an end to what he describes as "crooked mail-in ballots."