Active Force and coercion Updated
National Guard at polling places
Troops are deployed to polling places, ballot drop boxes, or election offices. Federal law bars the military from civilian law enforcement, and using troops this way would likely require invoking the Insurrection Act. Even troops near a site who are not assigned there can deter voters.
What has happened
- DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb issued an advisory warning federal agents and the National Guard not to interfere with the November election. No new Guard sightings at DC drop boxes or voting sites have been reported. Map stays at 1 state.
- Allies working with 50501 Vets walked parts of DC and saw no Guard deliberately posted at drop boxes. This was an informal check, not a survey of every box.
Where it has been observed
- District of Columbia Active since Oct 9, 2026
- Armed National Guard members are photographed at a ballot drop box once voting has opened. Foggy Bottom ballot drop box, 23rd and I Streets NW, Washington, DC · Oct 9, 2026
- Armed troops are filmed around a ballot drop box during an election. Washington, DC, at the June primary