2 Miles
The Army & Voting in America
We all know Bill. He’s one of the most famous characters in American politics and he continues to receive a warm welcome from new generations. No, I’m not talking about Bill Clinton, but Bill, the star of the iconic schoolhouse rock video, Just a Bill, that explains the federal legislative process. If you have been anywhere near an American public school in the past fifty years, your knowledge of how a bill becomes a law is probably a least a little bit informed by this video.
Now, this week, in honor of America’s election, Army 250 invites you to consider Bill’s hypothetical cousin, “Ballot”. Instead of telling us how a bill becomes a law, Ballot’s video, if it existed—and if anyone has an in to pitch ideas with a media company, please let me know!—would tell us how a ballot becomes a vote. And in this video, the Army would play a leading role.
America’s earliest elections were often conducted verbally, with eligible voters publicly announcing their decision. Some of the earliest versions of what we now call a ballot—the paper or, in some cases electronic, list of candidates—emerged in the nineteenth century due to the need for absentee voting. The catalyst for this need? War.
During the War of 1812, the state of Pennsylvania passed a law allowing members of the military to vote by mail if they were stationed more than two miles from their home. Voting by mail received a massive boost during the Civil War, where 19 Union states passed laws to allow soldiers to vote by mail in the 1864 presidential election (between incumbent Abraham Lincoln and George McClellan). More than 150,000 soldiers voted in the election and Lincoln received over 70 percent of the soldier-vote share; this margin helped secure his re-election.
Soldiers voting in 1864 election. Sources: Library of Congress and the Smithsonian.
Federal legislation expanded on these efforts throughout the 20th century. In 1986, President Reagan signed into law the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, which provides service members and their families with the ability to vote by mail in federal elections. Research suggests military turnout is lower than that of their demographic civilian peers and the processes for military voting continue to evolve to try and ensure it is accessible and straightforward for eligible service members and their families.
Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) literature for military voters. Source: DVIDS.
An estimated 47 percent of active duty military voted in the 2020 election. In the coming days, we’ll know what the comparable proportion is for 2024. But as important as it is knowing how many military voters participate, that’s not the full story. As we’ve seen throughout history, the processes through which Army personnel vote is a key variable. The Army has long been at the cutting-edge of voting process reform and that trend is likely to continue as we look towards the future.
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