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The election is less than 50 days away, and there is growing concern that President Trump could deploy federalized National Guard troops around polling locations despite clear laws barring such action. NPR's Kat Lonsdorf reports.
KAT LONSDORF, BYLINE: For months now, a group of several dozen former military lawyers has been writing to Congress with a specific worry - that the U.S. military might be used in some way to influence the upcoming election.
STEVEN LEPPER: We decided to try to connect the dots that led us to believe that that could be a very real possibility.
LONSDORF: Retired Major General Steven Lepper is part of the nonpartisan Former Judge Advocates Working Group, which has been tracking President Trump's executive orders.
LEPPER: Either this administration is trying to limit the ways in which votes can be cast, or they're setting up a situation where a scenario could be concocted to justify the use of military force.
LONSDORF: He points to the executive order declaring Antifa a domestic terrorist organization. He says that could potentially be used amid disruption at polling places to justify invoking the Insurrection Act, something Trump has repeatedly threatened to do. Put in the context of Trump's unprecedented use of the military domestically, particularly his National Guard deployments, Lepper says he and his colleagues see a very clear possible path.
LEPPER: That this administration will ultimately either deploy military forces or paramilitary law enforcement to somehow limit access to polling places.
LONSDORF: The National Guard can legally be used to support elections in many capacities when ordered by state governors. But the president deploying troops or federal armed agents to polling places is illegal. It's not just Lepper and his colleagues raising the concern. In March, several Democratic members of the Senate Armed Services Committee sought assurances from General Gregory Guillot, the commander of USNORTHCOM who would be in charge if such an order came from the president. When asked by Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois what guardrails are in place in that situation, Guillot said he very clearly understands the laws.
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GREGORY GUILLOT: If given the order, I would look at it very closely.
LONSDORF: He said he doesn't think troops should be, quote, "anywhere near polling places." But others have sidestepped such lines of questioning, including the president himself when asked directly about the possibility by reporters in May.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I'd do anything necessary to make sure we have honest elections. We have to have honest elections.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So you're not ruling that out?
LONSDORF: NPR asked the White House for clarification on that comment, but did not get a direct response. In recent weeks, Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan directly pressed several military leaders and federal agencies to confirm that U.S. troops won't be sent to polling places. Only chairman of the joint chiefs of staff General Dan Caine has responded, saying that there are, quote, "no plans" to send U.S. troops to the polls.
There is also growing concern about immigration enforcement agents being used to intimidate voters, something that's also illegal. Earlier this month, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said ICE agents could serve warrants at polling places. And that, too, could include the military, although that is also considered by most legal experts to be illegal. An internal DHS memo that was recently made public shows that the administration has outlined a plan specifically to allow for National Guard members to be deputized as immigration enforcement officers, something many members of the administration, like Stephen Miller, have long stated as a goal.
CHIOMA CHUKWU: This memo is designed as a workaround to say, here is how we can get this done without violating federal law.
LONSDORF: Chioma Chukwu is the executive director of American Oversight, a nonpartisan watchdog group that obtained the memo. The memo, which NPR has read, does not explicitly say anything about elections or polling places. But Chukwu says, given the administration's escalating claims around voter fraud by unauthorized immigrants...
CHUKWU: We should be planning for this to potentially be the way that they justify deploying National Guard to the polling places around the country.
LONSDORF: DHS told NPR the memo speaks for itself. Voting officials across the country have been working hard to assure voters there are plans in place if armed federal officials do show up and say they plan on administering the midterms as usual.
Kat Lonsdorf, NPR News, Washington. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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