Slotkin asks Hegseth, Caine to confirm no troops at polling places

Aug. 19 (UPI) — Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., sent letters Monday to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine asking them to confirm that they would not be sending military personnel to polling places this year.

Slotkin asked Hegseth and Caine to confirm that the department “will not send Federal troops to the polls or to seize election materials of any kind.”

On Tuesday, the Department of Justice said it was sending about 1,000 poll watchers to elections this year. It has already sent about 75 to primaries in heavily Democratic cities.

Slotkin referenced President Donald Trump’s comments about nationalizing the midterm elections.

“Federal law already makes it a crime to use the military to interfere in elections, including seizing ballots or voting equipment,” a press release from her office said. “But Hegseth has repeatedly declined to rule out using troops in this way, going so far as to make false claims to Congress to get out of answering.”

In the letters, she reminded them of constitutional law.

“The nonpartisan tradition of military service and the constitutional guardrails that prevent our military from becoming a domestic police force for one political party are essential to maintaining our democracy,” Slotkin wrote. “Thus, our nation’s senior-most defense and security leaders are the final failsafe for our democracy.”

Trump continues to allude to the possibility of nationalizing the elections.

In a conversation with conservative commentator Wayne Root last week, Trump, when asked if he would declare a national emergency to federalize the midterms, said, “Let me just say that stranger things have happened, OK? I’ll leave it at that.”

The president told The New York Times earlier this year that he regretted not sending the National Guard to seize voting machines in swing states after the 2020 election. He still claims falsely that he won that election.

“It is hard to miss that the President is laying the groundwork to send troops to the polls during the midterm elections,” Slotkin wrote in the letters. “President Trump has made clear his belief that the only way Republicans can lose the midterms is if they are stolen.”

Slotkin is on the Senate Armed Services, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committees.