Hegseth Accused of Politicising Military Voting With Midterm Message Highlighting Democratic Cities: 'Incredibly Unethical'

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing accusations of politicising the military after urging service members to vote in the midterm elections while highlighting their potential electoral power against the number of ballots cast in several heavily Democratic cities.

In a video posted on Friday, Hegseth said roughly 300,000 active-duty personnel were not registered to vote during the 2024 election.

'That's more than the ballots cast in cities like Detroit, Boston, Milwaukee, or Seattle,' he said.

Hegseth did not tell troops to support Republicans or any particular candidate. When instructing military commanders to encourage participation, he explicitly said: 'You're not telling them who to vote for, you're just telling them to vote.'

Critics Question Why Hegseth Named Democratic Cities

The decision to single out Detroit, Boston, Milwaukee and Seattle nevertheless drew criticism from those who viewed the comparison as carrying a partisan undertone. Former Democratic National Committee chair Donna Brazile called Hegseth 'incredibly unethical', arguing that American service members are patriots 'regardless of their political affiliations'.

The New Republic characterised the message as a 'veiled order' to vote Republican. Hegseth, however, did not endorse the Republican Party or any candidate in the video and repeatedly framed voting as a civic obligation.

'As you know, the war department exists to protect our nation and her freedoms,' Hegseth said. 'That includes the freedom to decide who leads us, and the right to vote.'

The criticism has centred largely on why Hegseth chose Democratic-leaning cities as benchmarks while discussing the electoral strength of hundreds of thousands of potentially unregistered service members.

Pentagon Rules Require Political Neutrality

The controversy touches on longstanding military rules intended to keep the armed forces out of partisan politics. Department of Defense guidance encourages service members to vote and provides assistance to help deployed personnel cast ballots.

However, active-duty troops are prohibited from engaging in certain partisan political activities, while DoD policy says personnel should avoid conduct that could reasonably be viewed as implying department sponsorship, approval or endorsement of a political party, candidate or partisan cause.

That distinction means a nonpartisan effort encouraging military personnel to register and vote is itself permitted and routinely supported by the Pentagon. The Federal Voting Assistance Program reported that 67% of active-duty personnel were registered for the 2024 election, down three percentage points from 2020. Participation stood at 42%.

Hegseth separately said roughly 300,000 active-duty personnel had not been registered to vote in the 2024 election.

Hegseth Tells Commanders to 'Get Out the Vote'

Hegseth also directed commanders to make sure personnel knew how to obtain ballots. Service members can use the Federal Post Card Application to register and request an absentee ballot, while deployed voters whose regular ballots do not arrive can use the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot as a backup.

'All of these processes are straightforward and protected by law,' Hegseth said.

The message also puts Hegseth in an unusual position relative to President Donald Trump's longstanding criticism of widespread mail-in voting. Trump has repeatedly attacked postal voting while making distinctions for military and some absentee voters.

Hegseth ended his message by declaring that 'every warrior' should have the opportunity to vote and know the ballot will be counted.