WASHINGTON — A group of Democratic senators introduced a bill Thursday that would prevent President Donald Trump from sending uniformed military or federal law enforcement to the polls to intervene with elections.
The Protect Our Polls Act would require the president to get congressional approval before deploying uniformed military to voting places and would cut off funding for uniformed military to seize ballots or voting machines.
“In the last six months alone, the president has said that the 2020 elections were rigged over 100 times, including just this week,†Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., said at an event where she was joined by many of the bill's co-sponsors. “In the State of the Union, where we were all sitting on the House floor, he said again, ‘If my side doesn't win in November of '26, then the elections were rigged.'â€
The bill's introduction comes after Slotkin led three separate amendments to address the issue through the National Defense Authorization Act, all of which failed. It also comes as the president continues to pressure GOP senators to pass the SAVE America Act, which would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote and an ID when casting a ballot. The measure has stalled in the Senate because it lacks the 60 votes needed to pass.
“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,†White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement to Spectrum News about the bill.
Over the weekend during an interview on CNN, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Immigration and Customs Enforcement would be sent to the polls during the upcoming midterm elections only if a threat arises, but he would not rule it out.
“If a threat were to arise, for whatever reason, at a polling station — say a bomb threat would be called in — our ICE agents are more than just immigration customs enforcement,†he said.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has also refused to say definitively that he will not deploy the military to polling places.
When Slotkin asked Hegseth during a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee last month if he would comply or refuse an order from Trump to seize ballots and voting machines during the 2026 election, the defense secretary called it a “gotcha hypothetical.â€
“Instead of waiting to see what happens, we are trying to take some action here,†Slotkin said Thursday.
Federal law already prohibits the military from polling places unless it is necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States, according to 18 U.S. Code Section 592. It is also illegal for uniformed military to interfere with elections by touching or seizing ballots and voting machines, according to 18 U.S. Code Section 593.
While the federal government has never sent uniformed military to the polls during an election, the Protect our Polls Act would require congressional approval to do so and cut off any funding for uniformed military or federal law enforcement to seize ballots and voting machines.
It also would protect service members from prosecution if the president illegally sends uniformed military to the polls.
Protect Our Polls Act co-sponsors include Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., who, along with Slotkin, appeared in a video last November encouraging members of the U.S. military to refuse illegal orders.
Democratic senators Alex Padilla of California, Ruben Gallego of Arizona, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Jacky Rosen of Nevada are also original co-sponsors.
Slotkin said almost of the senators represent swing states that are being sued by the Trump administration for their voter rolls or where Trump “has shown a bit of an oppressive or obsessive focus on our elections.â€
The Justice Department has filed federal lawsuits against 29 states and the District of Columbia for refusing to provide their statewide voter registration lists with driver's license and Social Security numbers, including Michigan, Arizona, California and Wisconsin.
“Accurate, well-maintained voter rolls are a requisite for the election integrity that the American people deserve,†former Attorney General Pam Bondi said in February, when she announced lawsuits against Utah, Oklahoma, Kentucky, West Virginia and New Jersey for failure to comply with a request for complete voter registration lists.
The nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice said in a statement on its website that the Trump administration's demand for voter rolls is “unprecedented and a clear encroachment on states' power to run elections as outlined in the Constitution,†calling it a part of a “concerted campaign to interfere with future elections.â€
“Trump is sending an unmistakable message: Beware to anyone who gets in his way or tries to give him results that he doesn't like,†Baldwin said Thursday.
“That brings us to this November, when tens of millions of Americans will head to the polls to cast their ballots,†she said. “The president is afraid that accountability is coming.â€
