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Selective Service Registration Choices

Draft Registration Strategy

Currently there is no draft, but there is a Selective Service Registration (aka Draft registration). A formal draft must be enacted by the U.S. Congress. Selective Service law and practice are complex, shifting and uncertain.

Every legal male resident between 18 and 26 year of age (including green card holders and excluding student and visitor visas) is required to "register" with Selective Service. The U.S. Post Office has forms.

The penalty for not registering is a fine up to $250,000 and up to 5 years in jail. On the registration form there is no option for indicating conscientious objection (CO) to war, but one way to establish your identification as a CO upon registering is listed below.

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Non-registration

At this time there has been no prosecution of non-registrants. However, federal college financial aid is denied to non-registrants. Civil Service employment and federal job training is denied to non-registrants. Some states will not give non-registrants a driver's license.

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Selective Service registration with protest

Get a registration card at any Post Office. Using red ink, boldly write beliefs (i.e., "I am opposed to war" and "I am a Conscientious Objector to war" and "no war" etc.) in the registration card margins and open spaces. Make three copies.

Put the original in an envelope and address the envelope to Selective Service. Go to the post office and send the envelope with a signed Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested. When the signed receipt is returned to you, staple it to a copy of your registration card (copy #1). This is your proof that they received your specially decorated protest registration.

Put copy #2 in an envelope addressed to yourself and mail it. When you receive it, file it unopened. This is postmark-dated back-up evidence of your original filing with Selective Service. Keep it in case it is needed as evidence in a hearing.

Place copy #3 in an envelope addressed to a long-time friend or relative. This is more postmark-dated back-up evidence of your original filing with Selective Service. Have them keep this unopened in case it is needed as evidence in a hearing.

Put these documents in your personal CO file.

[Tip -- When you change address always notify the selective service of the change. In the case of a draft it is likely there will be a very limited number of days for a person to submit a formal CO application; you want to get your mailed notice right away.]

For complete info on the whole topic of the Selective Service and the draft:
How To Stay Out of The Military: A Primer on Draft Resistance by David Wiggins
Conscientious Objectors and the Draft [PDF 136K]

The U.S. Government Selective Service website:
Selective Service - General Information
Selective Service - Classifications
Selective Service - Conscientious Objector and Alternative Service Options
Selective Service - What Happens in a Draft
Federal Citizen Information Center - Selective Service Registration

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