US Administration Deploys All-Out Vote Monitoring... Democratic Governors Fire Back by Mobilizing National Guard

Amid the US midterm elections, the Donald Trump administration has launched a whole-of-government vote monitoring effort, citing the need to ensure election fairness.

With Democrats also fighting back by deploying the National Guard and separate monitoring personnel, voting took place under intense tension.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) released a press release earlier in the day stating that ensuring election fairness is its mission, and announced that it is conducting its largest-scale election monitoring operation in history.

The DOJ explained, "We are deploying approximately 1,000 election monitors and observers, with operations taking place across all 50 states for the first time," adding that the Civil Rights Division will oversee the effort.

It added that starting today, the DOJ will receive inquiries and complaints related to voting rights for a week.

The scale of this administration monitoring deployment is reportedly three times that of the 2022 midterm elections.

As President Trump repeatedly raises the possibility of rigged elections amid a bleak outlook, the DOJ, headed by close confidant Todd Blanche, is launching a massive election watch.

There is also a perceived intention to gather potential problematic cases during the voting process in preparation for a crushing defeat in this election.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees immigration policy, has also joined in.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin posted on the social media platform X, "If you vote illegally, if you are not eligible to vote, the Department of Homeland Security will track you down to the fullest extent of the law and prosecute you."

Secretary Mullin emphasized, "US elections can only be decided by US citizens."

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) also posted on X, saying, "If you vote illegally, we will find you," and "We will track you down, arrest you, and prosecute you."

It also posted photos of individuals arrested on illegal voting charges one after another.

The threat of arrests is intended to deter immigrants without solid legal status from showing up at polling places at all.

The United States has different voter identification procedures required in each state.

Typically, regions with strong Democratic support use relatively loose methods to verify identities.

The DOJ reportedly sent 20 letters last week to Democratic officials regarding allegations that Democrats attempted to split votes by running a candidate with the same name as the Republican candidate in the Alaska Senate election, notifying them that they could be subjects of an investigation or demanding that they preserve related records.

In response to the Trump administration's all-out election monitoring, states led by Democratic governors have counter-monitored by deploying the National Guard.

At the suggestion of Washington Governor Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, about 100 National Guard troops were deployed to monitor the election across seven counties in the state.

Governor Ferguson emphasized the necessity of deploying the National Guard, citing an incident during the 2024 presidential election in Vancouver, Washington, where hundreds of ballots were destroyed in a ballot box arson attack.

In North Carolina, which also has a Democratic governor, the National Guard monitored the election.

In Colorado, the National Guard was deployed to support election cybersecurity.

The congressional news outlet The Hill reported that seven states have officially announced the mobilization of the National Guard for the midterm elections this year.

Democratic-led states such as Minnesota and California have also planned activities to counter-monitor the DOJ monitoring teams.


Ahead of the election, President Trump made several remarks suggesting that Democrats were attempting election fraud in swing states.

In an interview with The New York Times last January, he even said he regretted not ordering the National Guard to seize voting machines in swing states during his 2020 presidential election defeat.

Because of this, Democrats have expressed concern that the Trump administration could mobilize military troops or ICE agents to obstruct voter turnout, and further refuse to accept election results or seize voting machines and ballots.

(Photo: Getty Images)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.