Three Republican congressmen asked Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to provide more resources to servicemembers who want to vote in the presidential election.

Reps. Brian Mast, R-Fla., Mike Waltz, R-Fla., and Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., signed a letter telling Austin there were “deficiencies” in the Department of Defense’s procedures allowing servicemembers to vote before Election Day.

“We urge you to mobilize all the necessary resources over the next seven days to give every American citizen wearing our nation’s uniform the opportunity to vote if they so desire, pursuant to all federal and state regulations governing elections,” the letter reads.

The congressmen expressed concern that the Pentagon had not done enough to make servicemembers aware of their voting options. Some servicemembers told the lawmakers that administrators had not adequately explained the voting process, according to the letter.

“Our nation’s brave men and women in uniform brought to our attention that there has been inadequate education at the administrative level on how to register to vote, request an absentee ballot, and fill in a federal write-in absentee ballot if their state-issued ballot does not arrive in time,” the congressmen said.

Others noted they were told their base had run out of federal write-in absentee ballots, the lawmakers wrote.

“The Pentagon must do everything in its power so our nation’s elite warriors have every opportunity to make their voices heard this election cycle,” the letter reads. “This is especially important since voters will be deciding our next commander-in-chief – the person who will be making life-and-death decisions for our troops.”

The congressmen asked Austin to explain whether he had set aside time for every servicemember to review a sample ballot and to describe any training the Pentagon has provided to facilitate voting. They also inquired whether the Pentagon has directed every military unit to do “everything in their power” to make voting easier.

When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the Department of Defense said that over 3,000 Voting Assistance Officers were trained this election cycle for the department’s Federal Voting Assistance Program. The officers’ roles are to “ensure that military voters understand their voting rights, how to register to vote absentee, and have access to voting information, materials, and assistance, regardless of their state of voting residence,” according to the spokesperson.

“In addition to designating Voting Assistance Officers, every installation commander ensures voting assistance is included in the administrative in-processing, as well as pre- and post-deployment checklists required of reporting and detaching personnel,” the spokesperson added.

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