1. United States
2. Iowa
3. Letter

Keep Troops and ICE Out of Our Polling Places I am writing as your constituent to ask you to do one thing clearly and on the record: publicly commit that you will oppose any deployment of military troops, National Guard forces, or ICE agents to polling places during the 2026 midterm elections, and cosponsor the Protect Our Polls Act, which would require Congress to approve any such deployment before it could happen. This is not a hypothetical. President Trump has repeatedly declined to rule out sending troops or federal agents to the polls, members of his administration have floated the idea of ICE “surrounding” polling sites, and the Secretary of Defense has refused to say whether he would decline such an order. Federal law already makes armed forces at polling places a crime except in narrow, specific circumstances — which is exactly why a workaround like the Insurrection Act is being discussed instead of a lawful order. Armed agents at the polls are not a security measure. They are intimidation, and everyone knows it. Voters should never have to weigh their safety against their right to cast a ballot. That fear alone, regardless of whether a single boot ever sets foot at a precinct, is enough to suppress turnout in the communities most likely to be targeted. I am asking for a direct answer, not a general statement of support for democracy: will you commit, publicly, to opposing this and to cosponsoring legislation that blocks it? Yes or no. I am a citizen. I have the right to vote without threat, implied or otherwise. Protecting that right is not a talking point — it is your job. I expect an answer, and I will be watching for one. Sincerely, A Constituent and Voter