WASHINGTON — The District’s attorney general warned on Election Day that federal law bars the military and federal agents from interfering with elections, and said his office had pressed the administration after National Guard troops and federal agents were seen near D.C. voting locations in recent days.
Attorney General Brian Schwalb said the National Guard’s leaders told his office that members of Joint Task Force-DC — the mission that includes both Guard troops and federal law enforcement — “have been directed not to patrol at or near any voting locations in the District.” He asked residents to report any violation to his office or to the D.C. Board of Elections. “Every DC resident has the right to vote free of intimidation or interference,” he said.
No incident at a D.C. vote center was reported on Election Day itself, and city officials said voting went smoothly. The warning grew out of what happened in October.
What happened in October
On the evening of Oct. 8, a Washington lawyer filmed three uniformed National Guard members standing in front of the ballot drop box outside the Foggy Bottom-GWU Metro station, at 23rd and I Streets NW. One stood directly in front of the slot where ballots go in. The footage is authentic, fact-checkers confirmed. Two facts matter for fairness: the drop box was still locked that night — D.C. drop boxes opened the next day, Oct. 9, so no voter was using it at that moment — and the Guard says the soldiers were on a routine patrol that had paused, not guarding the box. They left soon after the filming began.
Asked on camera whether troops had been told to stay away from drop boxes, one Guard member answered: “No. Not at all.”
What the Guard and election officials say
Joint Task Force-DC said its members “are directed not to monitor or secure polling locations,” and the Guard apologized for what it called an innocent mistake. After Oct. 8, Guard officials said troops would be trained not to stand next to ballot boxes and told to be more careful about where they stand.
The D.C. Board of Elections said it received complaints about the Foggy Bottom incident and asked the Guard to keep its members away from drop boxes and voting locations. The board also told the coordinators at every polling place that the National Guard, immigration agents and other federal agents must stay at least 50 feet from polling places and may not come inside unless they are there to vote.
Neither the mayor’s office nor the White House put out a response to the attorney general’s statement on Tuesday.
The law, in plain words
A federal law passed after the Civil War makes it a crime to bring troops or armed federal officers to a place where an election is held, unless it is needed to fight off an armed enemy. Breaking it can bring up to five years in prison. A separate law makes it a crime to threaten or pressure voters in a federal election.
Schwalb’s office had already told voters the same thing in an Oct. 21 advisory: armed federal agents — from immigration enforcement, the FBI or the Marshals — cannot be sent to polling places, and Justice Department monitors who watch elections may only watch. They hold no power over voters or poll workers.
About 2,950 Guard members remain deployed in the District under a mission that began in August 2025. The attorney general is also suing over the deployment itself; a judge ruled it illegal on Oct. 1, the ruling is paused while the government appeals, and an appeals court heard arguments on Oct. 14 and has not yet decided.
