Baldwin, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Stop Trump from Using Military or Federal Law Enforcement to Interfere with Elections

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and her colleagues are introducing a new bill to protect Americans’ constitutional right to vote and prevent federal interference by armed military or federal law enforcement. The Protect Our Polls Act defends our free and fair elections, preserves the apolitical nature of our military, and protects servicemembers from illegal orders. The bill comes as President Trump has openly floated sending Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agents to local polling locations. “Our democracy depends on Americans being able to show up to the ballot box and have their voices heard,” said Senator Baldwin. “But that’s all at risk this November as President Trump openly weighs sending in armed federal agents to our schools, churches, fire stations, and other polling locations. President Trump has shown time and again he’s willing to use and abuse the full force of the federal government to intimidate and harm Americans, punish his enemies, and get his way. And that is just what he is trying to do this November because he is afraid accountability is coming for him. We can’t allow President Trump to come between Americans and their constitutional right to vote, and that’s why we are fighting to protect Americans’ access to the ballot box, stop President Trump from surging federal agents to our polling locations, and make sure your voice is heard.” The Protect Our Polls Act closes an existing loophole by requiring Congress to pass a Joint Resolution of Approval before the president can send troops or federal law enforcement to election sites. The President must also provide Congress with intelligence, legal justification, and evidence that state or local government cannot handle a threat on their own, at least 48 hours before deploying forces. The bill also prohibits military personnel and federal agencies from accessing election records preserved under federal law and reinforces the longstanding law that elections should be administered by civilian authorities free from intimidation or military interference. The introduction of the bill comes as President Trump has taken an all-of-the-above approach to try to interfere in the upcoming 2026 elections. The President has repeatedly threatened to send federal agents into states’ polling places. In various hearings or to the press, eight of the President’s appointees have refused to rule out sending troops or law enforcement. He has also said Republicans should nationalize voting in at least 15 states.? The President has also attempted to curtail legal mail-in voting. He signed an executive order in March to restrict mail-in-voting, and USPS released proposed rules earlier this month to deny vote-by-mail to any state that refuses to hand over its voter rolls.?In Wisconsin, communities have already experienced major delays in ballots arriving at polling locations on time to be counted, resulting in hundreds of Wisconsinites not having their votes counted. In just the last six months, President Trump has repeated his claim about “rigged” elections at least 107 times.?The President has also sent FBI agents into Milwaukee to relitigate his 2020 election loss, interviewing election officials and police officers. President Trump has also attempted to seize ballots in Georgia, Michigan, and Arizona, and sued 30 states for their voter rolls. The Protect Our Polls Act is led by Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and also cosponsored by Senators Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), and Raphael Warnock (D-GA). Full text of the bill is available here . ###