In August, a Military Times poll showed a decline in support for Trump among active-duty service members. Of the 1,018 active-duty troops surveyed in late July and early August, 49.9% had an "unfavorable view of the president, compared to about 38% who had a favorable view," Military Times reported.
Out of those officers surveyed, 59.1% had an unfavorable view of Trump; 35.1% had a favorable view of the president, Military Times reported.
Former senior leaders have pledged their support for both Biden and Trump. In September, Trump announced that 235 retired senior military officers had signed a letter backing him for reelection. But in October, Biden came out with his own list of 291 former generals, admirals, senior enlisted and national security officials who backed the former vice president.
However, Teigen maintains that there is a "Republican tilt to the veteran population that is not entirely explainable by their gender and their race but that is entirely powered by the male veteran population."
"Female veterans are politically indistinguishable from female nonveterans, whereas male veterans are slightly more Republican and were more likely to vote for Donald Trump in 2016," he said.
While the surge in military absentee voting may affect the election, there is also a chance that many votes may go uncounted because of postal delays and challenges to the system, Inbody said.
"The main thing about the military vote that I have seen ... is that it is exceedingly difficult for overseas personnel and their families to, one, get registered to vote and, two, get a marked ballot returned in time to be counted," he explained. "And the more the mail system is unable to support that, the more problems there will be with deployed military and overseas families."