That's a misunderstanding. "Service" includes public service of any kind, teachers, social workers, nurses, etc. Contribute to the society /government function in any form, earn the vote. Thus the official name of the world government, United Citizen Federation.
Heinlein based it on the German mandatory service year... started by the Nazis.
So maybe not as big a misunderstanding as you'd hope.
And maybe a certain famous death of democracy court case had a deeper cut in there than I previously realized...