WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, introduced two amendments to protect the integrity of American elections from illegal military interference during the markup for the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Read the story about Slotkin’s amendments to protect elections on MS NOW here.
Republican members of the committee voted against both amendments and were therefore not included as provisions in the NDAA text. These amendments were critical to ensuring free and fair elections, preserving the apolitical nature of our military, and protecting servicemembers from illegal orders. An issue that Slotkin prominently raised last year in her video with other members of Congress.
“Under oath, during an Armed Services hearing, Secretary Hegseth was not able to bring himself to say the words: it is illegal to deploy the military to our polls,” said Slotkin. “That’s not a hard question. It has been illegal for over 150 years, and this administration won’t rule it out. Time and again, Secretary Hegseth has dodged, deflected, and tried to change the subject. This is in line with President saying over and over again that if his side loses, the electionis rigged, including this week. I introduced these amendments to protect our free and fair elections from military interference and intimidation, and importantly, to protect the military and servicemembers from the exact kind of illegal orders I warned about last year. It’s deeply concerning that none of my Republican colleagues on the committee voted to include it.”
Slotkin has repeatedly asked Trump nominees, from Secretary Hegseth on down about illegal orders, and sending troops to polling places. She also explicitly questioned Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin about sending ICE to the polls.
Background on amendments:
Slotkin’s first amendment would have prohibited the use of any funds to deploy military forces to seize ballots, voter rolls, voting machines, or other election materials. Importantly, if this is done it could break the chain of custody for ballots and rule those ballots invalid. This military is explicitly banned from any action to interfere in our elections by 18 U.S.C. § 593. But that has not stopped the Trump Administration’s escalating rhetoric around sending troops to the polls, including:
- A draft Executive Order from December 2020 that would have sent the military to seize ballots in Michigan. Trump said in January of this year that he wished he signed this Executive Order.
- Recent Department of Justice demands for Wayne County ballots. This is on top of the DOJ demanding voter rolls from 48 states, and suing 30 of them for refusing to provide, Michigan included, and seizing ballots from Atlanta earlier this year.
The second amendment would have required explicit Congressional notification before any deployment of troops to polling places under the sole statutory exception to 18 U.S.C. § 592 – the provision allowing military forces to repel “armed enemies of the United States.” In March, Senator Slotkin asked the NORTHCOM Commander if he knew of any threats to our elections that would meet this threshold, and he said no.
This exception has never been used in our nation’s history. Not during World War I, World War II, or even in the weeks immediately following September 11, 2001, when New York City held its mayoral election. This President is seeking to warp our laws in ways that have never been done, and Senate Republicans are allowing it to happen, unchecked.
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