Pentagon Fails to Send Absentee Ballots to Active Military Service Members | 2 Nov 2024 | Republican lawmakers demand answers from the Pentagon after military service members complained that they have not received enough absentee ballots to vote before Election Day. GOP Reps. Brian Mast (R-FL), Bill Huizenga (R-MI), and Mike Waltz (R-FL) sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin citing their “grave concern over deficiencies in the Defense Department’s protocols” for the U.S. military because they said the absentee ballot stockpile has been “depleted and had not been replenished." The lawmakers also wrote that the Pentagon offered “inadequate education” on how service members can vote while deployed.