Today’s Supreme Court decision in Watson v. RNC is a win for military voters, overseas citizens, everyday Americans, and the basic principle that states have the authority to run their own elections.

Veterans for All Voters was proud to sign on to an amicus brief defending that principle on behalf of military members, veterans, and their families. When a service member follows the rules and casts a ballot on time, that vote should count. Period.

We’re especially proud that the Court’s opinion reflected key arguments from that amicus brief, including the role of UOCAVA, the federal law protecting military and overseas voters, and the long history of states adapting election rules so Americans can vote from wherever duty sends them. From the Civil War to the World Wars to today’s deployments, our elections have had to meet the reality of military life. The Court recognized that history today. 

That is why veteran voices matter in the courts, in statehouses, and in every room where election rules are written.

This fight is personal for the military community. Service members and their families do not control deployment schedules, overseas mail routes, flight delays, operational demands, or where their country sends them. They should not have to pay the price when the system fails them and those realities do not disappear when the uniform comes off. Veterans and military families continue to face barriers as rural voters, caregivers, disabled voters, working parents, students, and citizens simply trying to make their voices heard.

That is why state-level flexibility matters. Election rules should be shaped close to the people who have to live under them. Our constitutional design gives states the first responsibility for setting the “time, place, and manner of elections” because they are closest to the people our system is meant to serve.

That’s why VAV has been fighting hard on this issue as a member of the Military Vote Coalition. We are working to protect and expand common-sense voting safeguards for military and overseas voters, including reasonable mail-in voting grace periods, ballot tracking, ballot curing, and secure return options.

Today, the Supreme Court held the line. Now we have to push forward.

The Military Vote Coalition recognizes a 7-day ballot receipt grace period as the gold standard for military-friendly voting. More states should meet that standard. And we have to stay organized. These protections can still be attacked by federal overreach or narrowed by state lawmakers.

That’s why Veterans for All Voters will be in Reno, Nevada, July 24–29 for the VFW National Convention, advocating for a military voting resolution to protect mail-in voting grace periods for service members, military families, and overseas voters.

This is the next fight.

No eligible military voter should be left out because they were serving far from home. No politician should get to win by making it harder to count the votes of those who defend the Republic.

Today’s ruling was an important victory. Now it’s on all of us to turn that victory into lasting protection.

State by state. Veteran by veteran. Neighbor by neighbor.

We’ll keep fighting to count every eligible vote, protect reasonable grace periods, and defend each state’s authority to make elections work for its own voters.

Because the people who serve this country should never be shut out of choosing its future.