WASHINGTON, D.C. – A handful of Senate Democrats have introduced a bill that would ban the President from sending the military or federal officers to polling locations during elections. This follows the President’s comments earlier this year stating Republicans should nationalize elections in at least 15 states.
“In the last six months alone, the President has said the elections were rigged over 100 times,” said Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D- MI). “He said in the State of the Union that if my side doesn’t win this November elections then the elections were rigged.”
A handful of Democratic Senators aired their concerns about the upcoming 2026 elections. They said the administration’s attempts to get access to voter rolls and even alter rules for voting by mail are alarming. They’re looking to advance the Protect our Polls legislation they said would stop presidents from interfering with elections when you go to vote at the polls.
“It requires President Trump come to congress to get approval before deploying uniformed military to our polls,” said Sen. Slotkin. “There is only one legal way to send uniformed military on our books and that is to quote repel armed enemies of the United States. We have never done this in our history. Not during World War II when we were in the middle of combat operations, not months after 9/11 when we’d been attacked on our own soil. We have never in our history sent uniformed military into our polls during an election.”
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson sent us this statement when we asked about the proposed legislation and if the President would send armed forces to election sites: “If Democrats really cared about securing our elections, they would pass the SAVE America Act which includes commonsense election integrity measures supported by the vast majority of Americans.”
Slotkin has previously pressed the then-incoming Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on this issue in a hearing back in March:
“Do you feel you can put uniformed officers at polling locations in 2026,” asked Senator Slotkin.
“Mam, we said this in your office the only reason my officers would be there would be is if there’s a specific threat to be there not for intimidation,” responded Sec. Mullin.
According to the Brennan Center, an independent, nonpartisan law and policy organization, it’s already illegal to send armed forces to polling locations unless “such force be necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States”. They add it’s also a federal crime for anyone, including federal agents, to intimidate voters.
“What this comes down to is congress will make it impossible for the President to try to steal an election,” said Sen. Slotkin.
In a January interview with The New York Times, the President did not dispute reporting that he considered sending national guard to seize ballot boxes during the 2020 election.
