Revered Civil Rights activist and politician John Lewis (1940-2020) said in 2012, “Your vote is precious, almost sacred. It is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have to create a more perfect union.” As one of the original participants in the Freedom Rides, organizer of the march from Selma to Montgomery and more, Lewis understood in a more visceral manner than most the costs associated with that right — and the power in exercising it.
Military members surrender certain political rights when they don a uniform. As it says in the U.S. Dept. of Defense Directive 1344.10, “Members on active duty may not campaign for a partisan candidate, engage in partisan fundraising activities, serve as an officer of a partisan club, or speak before a partisan gathering.” Active duty members can, however, express personal opinions on candidates and issues as an individual, contribute to political organizations and attend political events when not in uniform. Of course, every military and family member is actively encouraged to exercise their right to vote.
In a 2020 Blue Star Families survey, 89% of active duty family respondents reported they are registered to vote, with 51% being registered at their home of record, 33% at their current installation, and 15% at a past residence or duty station. However, as of 2022, only 26% of active duty military members actually cast a vote, compared to 48% of the civilian population. Of those who did not vote but tried or wanted to, the most prevalent reasons included uncertainty regarding the procedures for absentee ballots, figuring out how to vote, reporting that the ballot did not arrive and that voting “was too complicated.” Service members who found assistance through a DoD resource were four times as likely to return their ballot in 2022, according to FVAP.
In 2022, 63% of service members expressed an interest in casting a ballot, but just 26% actually did. There are a multitude of reasons for this, such as logistical and administrative challenges, lack of awareness for resources, narrow time margins with multiple moves, and a sense of feeling uninformed about local issues. Sarah Streyder, executive director of Secure Families Initiatives and Space Force spouse, told the 19th, “I try to encourage folks to remember that you’ve lived all around the world, which has given you a really broad perspective about what’s possible, what forms of government can look like, what quality of life can look like that may be different from a more limited vantage point. That is a value add and a gift that you get to give your civilian neighbors back home when you vote.”
Moving from state to state makes the process challenging, but the Federal Voting Assistance Program, Blue Star Families, Overseas Vote, and the Dept. of Defense offer resources for domestic and overseas military families to cast their ballots. The Secure Families Initiative is a military-spouse driven effort anchored in the belief that “[mobilizing] our military family community to vote and advocate is not only the right thing to do on principle, but an effective way of reshaping our country’s conversations around military intervention,” and adding that because foreign policy affects military families, military families deserve a seat at the table. The organization features a variety of tools and resources to equip military families for advocacy, including voting.

Free seminars about voter registration in North Carolina
Do you or your organization want to learn more about the voter registration process in North Carolina? The State Board of Elections is now offering free voter registration seminars, which include detailed information about the following:
• The legal qualifications for registering to vote
• Tips on completing a voter registration application and updating an existing registration
• Key considerations when conducting a voter registration drive
These seminars will also include information about the photo identification requirements for voting. They will be conducted upon request in person anywhere in North Carolina or online
State Board staff have also scheduled in person seminars at the State Board of Elections office in Raleigh. These seminars will be held at 6 p.m. on July 31, Aug. 14, Sept. 12 and Sept. 25.
"This is a convenient way for individuals and organizations to get accurate information about elections straight from the most reliable source: elections officials," said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director, State Board of Elections. "We encourage North Carolinians to request seminars and to attend these in person events."
State Board staff also provide free seminars about the voter photo ID requirement and about accessibilty in voting. Since late April, State Board staff have conducted 29 seminars around the state.
To request a seminar, any interested group can visit the State Board of Elections website, NCSBE.gov and go to "Seminar Requests." Requesters will be asked for their name, organization, contact information, and the proposed date and time for their event. Seminar requests will be considered on a first come, first served basis and scheduled according to staff availability.
The State Board of Elections has recognized the Constitution Party of North Carolina as an official political party in the state.
Recognition of this party means voters now have another choice of party affiliation when registering to vote or updating an existing registration. Voters may register with the Constitution, Democratic, Green, Libertarian, No Labels, or Republican parties, or they can register as unaffiliated. This recognition also means that voters currently registered with a different political party or as unaffiliated may switch their affiliation to the Constitution Party if they wish. For information on how to do that, see Updating Registration.
State Board Recognizes Constitution Party
The Constitution Party of North Carolina also will have candidates on ballots in November, which it chose during its 2024 nominating convention. They include Walter Vinny Smith for governor and Wayne Jones for lieutenant governor. A letter to the State Board (Constitution Party letter to the State Board (PDF)) indicated that the party would have additional candidates, but the party did not want to disclose their names until it was recognized. The Board set a deadline of July 23 for the Constitution Party to provide the names of its candidates for the 2024 general election.
The State Board is updating voter registration applications to include the new political party option. Until then, voters may register with the new party by checking the “Other” box and writing “Constitution Party” on the line in the “Political Party Affiliation” section of the voter registration form.
State Board voter data also will be updated to include the new party registrants.
According to a review by State Board staff, the Constitution Party submitted 14,022 valid signatures from registered N.C. voters, 157 more than the required 13,855 signatures. The signatures were verified by the county boards of elections of the counties in which they were collected. The Constitution Party also received at least 200 signatures from three different congressional districts, a requirement of “Political party” defined; creation of new party (N.C.G.S. § 163-96(a)(2)).
Justice for All and We The People Parties
As it pertains to the Justice for All and We The People petitions, State Board staff, at the direction of members of the State Board, continues to verify whether those groups complied with the statutory requirement for prospective parties to communicate the “purpose and intent” of the new parties to petition signers.
The Board plans to meet again soon to decide whether to recognize We The People and Justice for All. There is still time for these groups to get their candidates on North Carolina ballots if they are recognized as official political parties.