Attorney General Todd Blanche Denies Claims of Armed Election Monitors

<p>Attorney General Todd Blanche on Sunday rejected the notion that election monitors being deployed to polls during the midterm elections will be armed, categorizing the idea as false. </p><p>Blanche appeared on Fox News Sunday and explained that the Justice Department's monitoring of elections is not a new initiative, adding that Congress should acknowledge the Trump administration for its efforts to ensure fair elections. </p><p>The attorney general responded to a June press release from Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), who claimed that President Donald Trump was considering sending "armed federal agents to our schools, churches, fire stations, and other polling locations." </p><p>“I wish that the senators and the congressmen that are saying these fearmongering, false statements would just not do that. It’s not fair to the American people,” Blanche stated, noting that the DOJ has safeguarded elections since the 1960s. “President Trump is doing the same thing that every single administration has done in our administration.” </p><p>Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, announced in August that the DOJ plans to deploy 1,000 election monitors in the 2026 elections, which would be a record number, as the department has typically sent between 200 and 800 monitors. </p><p>Blanche indicated that lawmakers who oppose election monitors are reacting inaccurately. </p><p>“What these senators should be saying is ‘thank God that we have a government that’s ready to show up,” he said. “We’re hoping to have 1,000 or more. They are not going to Republican states. They’re not going to Democrat states. They’re going to every state to make sure that our elections are carried out legally, fairly, and appropriately.” </p><p>He reiterated that the claim that the monitors will be “armed federal agents” is “completely false” and that they will be the same monitors as in past elections. </p><p>Democrats have expressed concerns in recent months that Trump is planning to send Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents or the National Guard to polling stations, as the president has made election security a key objective in his second term. </p><p>In May, Trump stated he would do “anything necessary” to ensure fair elections, suggesting the possibility of deploying federal agents to ballot boxes. However, on Thursday, the president stated that he has not considered deploying ICE in the November elections. White House border czar Tom Homan indicated last month that there are no plans to send ICE to polling sites.</p>