Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) are spearheading a bill to prevent the deployment of the military or federal law enforcement at polling places.
The Wider Context
President Donald Trump has made election integrity a focal part of his agenda, seeking to ensure that non-citizens are not voting in elections.
While posting federal agents at polling places has not been explicitly endorsed, it has not been ruled out either, which Democrats are claiming is voter intimidation.
Hence, Sens. Kelly and Gallego have introduced the Protect Our Polls Act, which not only reinforces the statute that federal agents cannot be deployed at polling places unless sufficient reason is provided, but also requires the President to seek Congressional approval with intel, legal justification, and evidence that state or local government cannot handle a threat on their own, at least 48 hours before deploying forces.
What Lawmakers are Saying
"Free and fair elections are the foundation of our democracy. The idea that a president would send troops or armed agents to polling places to intimidate voters is un-American and illegal," said Sen. Kelly in a press release. "Federal law has protected polling places from military interference since the Civil War for a reason. President Trump has made clear he thinks he can ignore those limits. We're making sure he can't."
Similarly, Sen. Gallego said, "As a Marine, I took an oath to the Constitution, not a president. As did all troops. Using our service members to intimidate Americans at the polls is disgusting, illegal, and exactly the kind of abuse this bill stops cold."
Joining them are Senators Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), and Raphael Warnock (D-GA).
Meanwhile, on the Republican Side...
At the same time, Representative Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ) has recently gone scorched earth on Senate Republicans for not passing the SAVE America Act, arguing that they hate their own voters.
The Arizona congressman argued, "Voters sent them to Washington, DC, with a clear mandate: Help President Trump secure their right to vote. Yet they refuse to pass the SAVE America Act. Every fraudulent vote they allow is a direct assault on every lawful voter. This isn't negligence—it's contempt. If they won't fight for the people who put them in office, they don't belong there."
