States, not the Pentagon, send ballots to service members | Fact check

A Nov. 3 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) claims military members were overlooked in the voting process for the 2024 presidential election.
“BREAKING: The Pentagon reportedly failed to send absentee ballots to active military service members before the election,” reads the text on the image, which is a screenshot of a post on X, formerly Twitter.
The Facebook post was shared more than 70 times in three days. The X version was reposted more than 2,000 times.  
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States, not the Pentagon, are responsible for sending absentee ballots to military members. A group of Republican lawmakers said they received reports that at least one military base was running out of backup write-in federal ballots that can be used if state-issued ballots don’t arrive on time. A service member can, however, access the backup ballot online and submit it on their own behalf.
The claim is false, according to a Department of Defense spokesperson who declined to provide their name to USA TODAY.
States are responsible for sending absentee ballots to military members, as outlined on the Federal Voting Assistance Program’s website.
It says military members should submit a Federal Post Card Application to their respective election office and that doing so “ensures that your state will send your ballot to you at least 45 days before the election.”
Former Marine Capt. Janessa Goldbeck also told the military news outlet Task & Purpose that the Department of Defense “does not directly distribute absentee ballots to military personnel stationed overseas or away from their home state.” Goldbeck is CEO of Vet Voice Foundation, a non-partisan organization that works to increase veterans’ civic engagement.
Military members are also able to use a “back-up ballot,” the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot, if they “have made timely application for, but have not received, their regular ballot from their state or territory,” according to the Justice Department.  
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Several GOP lawmakers penned a letter days before the election accusing the Pentagon of not devoting enough resources to helping service members vote, citing reports from their constituents in the military, as Fox News reported.
The letter said at least one military base’s supply of the backup write-in ballots had dwindled and not been restocked. But service members don’t have to rely on the Department of Defense to get the backup ballot. They can access it online, print it and submit it on their own behalf.
Department of Defense Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a Nov. 4 news conference that the department has a “robust education program” to ensure military members can access absentee ballots and participate in elections regardless of their location.
There are no credible news reports about widespread issues with absentee ballots being provided to members of the military.
USA TODAY has debunked an array of claims pertaining to ballots, including false assertions that a dot by Vice President Kamala Harris’ name on the Kentucky ballot invalidates votes for other candidates, that former President Donald Trump’s name being on the second page of the California ballot is evidence of election fraud and that votes cast on ballots marked by poll workers are disqualified. 
USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
PolitiFact, Reuters and Check Your Fact also debunked the claim.  
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