State of the Military Voter
Nearly three-quarters (71 percent) of the 1.3 million active duty military members are eligible to vote absentee with special protections because they are stationed away from their voting residence.
Voting is more complicated for military members stationed away from home than for local voters. Some states require them to update their registration and request an absentee ballot every year. State rules on how election paperwork can be sent and received may require the use of printers and scanners or involve long mailing times. Most need to vote earlier than local voters so that their ballots are received by voting deadlines, and some but not all states allow electronic ballot return options.
To learn more about military voters and to help them navigate their state's absentee voting process, FVAP conducts the Post-Election Voting Survey – Active Duty Military (PEVS-ADM) every two years following the general election. The most recent report details military voting behaviors in 2024.
The Military Voter in 2024
Since 1986, military members on active duty stationed away from their voting residence have been covered by the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), which requires that states allow these military members, their eligible family, and overseas citizens to vote absentee in federal elections. The Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act amended UOCAVA in 2009 to require that states:
- Transmit ballots at least 45 days before federal elections
- Offer at least one method of electronic transmission (email, fax, online portal, etc.) of voting information and blank ballots
- Transmit ballots automatically within the calendar year of a standing ballot request
Over the course of four presidential elections and four midterm elections since the UOCAVA amendments, voting data from the 2024 Presidential Election continues to show its impact on military voting. The amendments have given military members more time to vote by reducing time-related obstacles.
In 2024, 15 percent reported they either didn't receive the ballot in time or that their ballot never arrived, compared to 30 percent prior to the 2009 amendments. While UOCAVA has improved the military voting experience, there are still opportunities to support military members' ability to successfully vote absentee.
Here are some key findings around military voting in 2024.
67 percent of active duty military members were registered to vote in 2024 compared to 70 percent in 2020 – a decrease of around 3 percent. Nearly three-quarters (71 percent) of active duty military members are eligible to vote absentee under UOCAVA because they live 50+ miles from their voting residence.
When adjusting for demographic differences between Service members and civilians (age, sex, education, etc.), the military voter registration rate decreased by 3 percentage points from 2020 to 2024, while the 2024 election registration rate for eligible civilian voters in the United States only decreased by 1 percent.
While military voter participation rates in both 2020 and 2024 were substantially lower than voting rates for civilians, the 24 percent gap between the two remained fundamentally the same between 2020 and 2024, as participation for both groups dropped by four percent in 2024.
In line with historical patterns, 2024 continued to reveal higher interest and participation in presidential elections than in midterms. Fewer active duty service members reported interest in voting in the 2024 presidential election compared with 2020, declining from 67 percent to 64 percent. Participation also fell over the same period, from 49 percent to 45 percent. Because the decrease in participation roughly mirrors the decline in interest, this suggests the changes in 2024 service member turnout were driven more by personal choice than by barriers to military voting.
Further analysis of voting interest for active duty military found that in 2024, 60 percent of military members who did not vote said it was because of lack of motivation, having chosen the "I did not want to vote" survey response option. While this is a slight increase from 2020 numbers, results are still in line with 2020 outcomes.
Among those who tried or wanted to vote, 80 percent reported being aware of their right to vote absentee when stationed away from their voting residence. Among service members aged 18-24, the level of awareness of their right to vote was significantly lower than for those aged 25 and up. Overall, 88 percent of active duty military (77 percent of those in the 18-24 age bracket, as compared to 94 of those aged 25+) were familiar with their voting rights.
Overall knowledge of absentee voting processes was lower by 1 to 7 percentage points in each category in 2024 compared to 2020. Active duty military members' knowledge about registering to vote, requesting an absentee ballot, and returning an absentee ballot were higher than of other processes. This finding also reflects absentee voting procedural knowledge trends among Service members in both 2020 and 2022.
Many states allow the use of electronic options for sending and receiving election materials between voters and election officials. However, mail is the only universally accepted method for returning ballots, with many states requiring that voted absentee ballots be returned by mail. Thirty-three states and territories currently allow military absentee voters to submit their voted ballots using one or more electronic methods. The states with the largest number of UOCAVA voters provide an array of voted ballot return options: Florida (fax or mail); Virginia (mail only); California (fax or mail); Washington (email, fax, or mail); and Texas (mail only, except fax for hazardous duty pay areas).
In total, a quarter (25.24 percent) of active duty military members indicated that they requested a ballot in 2024. Additionally, 6.23 percent said they did not request, but automatically received a ballot, and 12.49 percent indicated they had expected to get a ballot but did not receive it. These numbers are down from the prior Presidential election, except for active duty military members who expected to receive a ballot – the only category to increase between 2020 and 2024.
Of the 25 percent of active duty military members that requested a ballot, about 86 percent indicated they received one. Among those who received an absentee ballot, either because they requested one or because one was automatically sent to them by their election office, over three quarters (76.92 percent) indicated they returned their ballot.
There are many reasons motivated military non-voters did not cast a ballot. Some lacked procedural information about how to complete the absentee voting process. Others experienced challenges with the process itself that they were unable to overcome. Difficulty requesting a ballot, absentee ballots that did not arrive, and general confusion about the process were among the most frequently mentioned difficulties among would-be voters.
Active duty military members seeking assistance from a DoD resource is significantly related to higher ballot return rates. Forty-four percent of military members who sought assistance from at least one DoD resource returned a ballot in 2024. This consistent finding across the last seven general elections (2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2024) speaks to the importance and effectiveness of efforts by FVAP and the Military Departments and Services to raise awareness of available resources and provide direct assistance.
Documenting the State of the Military Voter after Every Election
FVAP conducts post-election surveys and studies voter file data after every federal election. The State of the Military Voter highlights recent statistics on military voting based on the Post-Election Voting Survey of Active Duty Military (PEVS-ADM), which is sent out to a sample of active duty members after each general federal election. See the 2024 PEVS-ADM Technical Report and previous PEVS-ADM reports here:
More information on military voting is available in FVAP's Interactive Data Center and Report to Congress. See FVAP's repository of military voting data and reports extending back to 1962.
Separately, FVAP releases research on the voting experiences of U.S. citizens residing abroad as part of the State of the Overseas Voter.
