State and local election officials across the United States are preparing for the upcoming midterm elections, addressing a range of potential federal actions and expressing concerns regarding intervention in state-run election processes. Preparations include discussions around federal personnel deployment, executive authority over election systems, information integrity, voter data requests, and cybersecurity. Amid these preparations, a senior Department of Homeland Security official clarified that immigration agents would not be present at polling places. Political scientists also hold differing views on the state of U.S. democracy as the elections approach.
Federal Personnel and Polling Places
Discussions regarding potential federal involvement at polling places have been a component of midterm election preparations. Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon publicly stated his hope for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to patrol polling places in November, having previously said ICE would "surround the polls." Prior to the 2020 election, former President Trump also expressed a desire for federal law enforcement to patrol voting locations.
Legal experts generally consider such federal intervention illegal, citing federal law that restricts the deployment of "troops or armed men" at polling sites.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt indicated she had not heard the president discuss such a plan and stated that federal law prohibits it. White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson characterized inquiries about federal agents at polling places as "baseless conspiracy theories and Democrat talking points," while reiterating that the president has authority to send federal personnel to localities to address violent crime. She did not directly state whether federal agents would be sent to voting locations. Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon suggested a clear federal statement disavowing such actions would be beneficial, and Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs also indicated a shift in his view regarding the potential for federal troop deployment.
During a call with various top voting officials nationwide, Heather Honey, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Election Integrity at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), stated that ICE agents would not be present at polling places during the midterm elections.
Ms. Honey described any suggestion of ICE patrolling polling locations as "disinformation," an assurance confirmed by Kentucky Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams. During the call, California Secretary of State Shirley Weber inquired whether states would receive advance notice if ICE agents were to be deployed to polling places.
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes stated he was not convinced by Ms. Honey's assurances, referencing her past involvement in the 2020 election review in Maricopa County. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows also expressed that she was not reassured about potential federal interference in state sovereignty over elections. The call, scheduled by the FBI, included members of the FBI, the Election Assistance Commission, the Department of Homeland Security, the United States Postal Service, and the Department of Justice. Some state election officials noted this was their first engagement with the current administration on election security in months. Participants reported that administration officials offered limited new information and did not directly address specific questions, particularly regarding state sovereignty in election administration.
Concerns were raised by some about potential federal intervention affecting voter participation, particularly among people of color and naturalized citizens, due to fear of harassment. These concerns were raised further by a recent FBI action at an elections hub in Fulton County, Georgia, reportedly connected to claims from the 2020 election.
Executive Authority and Election Systems
Former President Trump previously issued an executive order aimed at altering election systems, which courts have largely blocked. Statements from the White House indicated ongoing work on new executive orders, with one reportedly targeting mail voting. Mr. Trump also mentioned a desire to ban certain voting machines.
Election officials generally state that the U.S. Constitution grants states control over election processes, with Congress setting guidelines for federal races, asserting that the President lacks the legal authority to implement such changes. Cleta Mitchell, an attorney who advised Mr. Trump in 2020, suggested a national emergency declaration could be a strategy to implement election changes, citing what she described as a "porous system." Mr. Trump has utilized presidential emergency powers more frequently than previous modern presidents.
Election experts indicate no legal basis for Mitchell's theory.
Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) stated he would force a Senate vote to block any such declaration if it were made under what he called a "fake national emergency."
Information Dissemination and Government Appointments
Election officials reported ongoing challenges in guiding communities to reliable sources for election information. Concerns have been raised about individuals appointed to prominent government roles who have previously disseminated information about elections that officials describe as false.
One such appointment is Heather Honey, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Elections Integrity at the Department of Homeland Security. Officials noted her past work with Cleta Mitchell in spreading election theories described by officials as conspiracy theories.
Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs likened this appointment to offering a "moon landing conspiracy theorist and flat earther a job at NASA."
Similarly, some officials at the Department of Justice have a history of expressing skepticism about election outcomes.
Voter Data and Roll Integrity
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has made requests for access to voting machines, old ballots, and large quantities of voter data. For example, a consultant in Colorado, who some clerks stated claimed association with the White House, contacted clerks regarding access to voting machines. The White House denied authorizing these specific requests. Separately, a Department of Justice official contacted Missouri clerks with similar inquiries, which were declined by the clerks.
The Trump administration has developed a searchable national citizenship database and has encouraged states to use it to identify non-citizens on voter rolls. While some Republican election officials have utilized this system, others, including some Republicans and their Democratic counterparts, have expressed hesitation. Concerns include the system's effectiveness, the handling of voter data, and legality under state laws.
The administration continues to investigate voter rolls and claims of widespread non-citizen voting. The Department of Justice recently sued eight states that Mr. Trump lost in 2020 to compel them to provide their voter rolls.
Al Schmidt, Republican Secretary of State of Pennsylvania, described this as an "attempt... to consolidate and overreach at the federal level," emphasizing that states manage elections in the U.S.
A Princeton University sociologist compared the pursuit of lawsuits to obtain voter data from states to tactics she stated were used by the Hungarian government to disenfranchise voters.
Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities
Federal government involvement in election-related cybersecurity has reportedly decreased since Mr. Trump took office. The Department of Homeland Security reduced staff focused on election security and ended funding for a partnership that facilitated threat information sharing among local election offices.
Wesley Wilcox, a Republican election supervisor in Marion County, Florida, suggested that these reductions could increase the vulnerability of smaller counties to cyberattacks from foreign adversaries. Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs noted that two years prior, DHS notified him of a county hack, leading to immediate state response. He expressed uncertainty about receiving similar notification under current circumstances. Adrian Fontes, Democratic Secretary of State of Arizona, stated he did not contact DHS' cyber agency after an online candidate portal was hacked, citing what he described as a lack of confidence in the agency's "capacity to collaborate in good faith or to prioritize national security over political theater."
Academic Debate on U.S. Democracy
Political scientists hold differing views on the state of democracy in the United States ahead of midterm elections. Some researchers express concern that the country is moving toward or has reached a form of autocracy, while others argue that the U.S. system demonstrates resilience.
Staffan I. Lindberg, director of Sweden's V-Dem Institute, stated that the U.S. has become an "electoral autocracy." Steven Levitsky, a professor at Harvard University, suggested the U.S. has entered a "mild form of competitive authoritarianism." Levitsky described this as a system where elections occur, but the ruling party employs tactics such as criticizing the press, disenfranchising voters, and threatening critics to gain an electoral advantage. Levitsky cited two actions in September as examples: the Trump administration reportedly threatened ABC's parent company, Disney, following comments made by Jimmy Kimmel, and President Trump proposed using U.S. cities as training grounds for troops, stating, "We're under invasion from within."
Conversely, other scholars do not describe Trump as a would-be autocrat. Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law Law School, noted that the Trump administration has raised objections regarding liberal bias in news organizations and universities. Kurt Weyland, who researches democracy and authoritarianism at the University of Texas at Austin, expressed confidence in the U.S. system's ability to withstand attempts to expand executive power. Weyland noted that while opposition to Trump in his second term was initially limited, it later changed. He cited Jimmy Kimmel's return to comment on Trump, reportedly unsuccessful attempts at mass redistricting to influence elections, and public response to federal agents shooting two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis, which was suggested to limit future aggressive tactics.