National Guard members in at least seven states will perform some sort of role during the highly charged midterm elections.
As Americans cast their ballots, plain clothes National Guard members will help monitor ballot boxes in seven counties across Washington state; monitor and defend election networks in Iowa; and assist with election cybersecurity in Colorado.
Those are just a few examples of the troops’ roles before and during Nov. 3’s midterms — an election that has received intense scrutiny as Democrats look to take back control of both chambers of Congress and President Trump has asserted he would do “anything necessary” to ensure honest elections.
A majority of Americans, however, do not think troops should be used at polling sites.
A new survey released by the Democracy and Security Network at the German Marshall Fund said those pushing back on the use of troops at the polls say it damages the public’s confidence in the military as an institution.
Loren Voss, one of the researchers who conducted the survey, said that out of the 2,800 Americans polled, 59 percent said that the president should not use the federal military to monitor or administer elections.
She told The Hill there is a generalized fear around federal interference in the elections, be it by a federalized National Guard presence, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or FBI agents, and having members of the military help around polling stations only adds to that concern of interference.
“This is just another instance of using the National Guard for something that should be a civilian mission,” she said, concerning the presence of troops at ballot boxes in Washington state. “That is just so fraught for the potential of people thinking that there’s something untoward going on. You just shouldn’t take that risk.”
Federal law generally does not allow armed personnel to be stationed at a place where an election is being held — with the exception being if there is an attack on a polling location where federal force is needed.
But in the past several presidential and midterm elections, state governors have increasingly called on their National Guard to monitor cybersecurity and assist local authorities. In 2022, at least 14 states used their guard members — a number that rose to 15 in 2024.
