US Military Confirms No Plans to Deploy Troops to Polling Places for November Elections

WASHINGTON (AP) — The highest-ranking officer in the U.S. military, Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated there are no plans to send troops to polling places during the November 2026 midterm congressional elections. This statement addresses concerns among some Democrats regarding potential military interference in the electoral process. Caine made this declaration in a letter to Michigan Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin, who had requested confirmation from him and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about the military's role in the elections. "The Joint Force has no plans to send Federal military personnel or Federalized members of the National Guard to polling places during the 2026 elections," Caine wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press. He also noted that there are no plans to use military personnel to seize ballots, voting machines, or other election-related materials. Caine added, "I have neither received nor anticipate receiving any unlawful order concerning the role of the Joint Force in the upcoming November 2026 midterm elections." Concerns among Democrats have increased regarding the Trump administration's potential to interfere with the elections, especially following instances where federal agents were deployed in Democratic-led states against local leaders' wishes. Slotkin had previously expressed worries that Trump was preparing to claim the elections were stolen, referencing past actions where Trump considered using the military to seize voting machines after the 2020 election loss. Federal law prohibits the deployment of armed federal forces at election locations unless necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States. If military involvement occurs, it would likely be through the National Guard under state control. White House chief of staff Susie Wiles denied in a Vanity Fair interview last year that Trump would use the military to suppress voting in the midterms. Slotkin's press secretary, Sonja Thrasher, mentioned that Hegseth has not yet responded to the letter confirming troop deployment. The Pentagon has not provided an immediate response to an inquiry from the AP regarding Hegseth's reply to Slotkin. In a previous congressional hearing, Slotkin asked Hegseth if he would follow orders to seize ballots, to which he responded that he had never been ordered to do anything illegal. In 2020, Gen. Mark Milley, then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, similarly affirmed the principle of an apolitical U.S. military, stating that disputes over elections should be resolved by U.S. courts and Congress, not the military.