Pentagon reiterates no role for troops in election
Concerns persist of violence or interference
Department of Defense leaders are trying to keep the military insulated from politics and domestic crises that could arise on Nov. 3 or after. An ex-DOD official says veterans “should know better” than to be unofficial “poll watchers.”
WASHINGTON – Violence at polling places Nov. 3 and beyond is increasingly feared by election experts, members of Congress and voters themselves, as President Donald Trump casts doubt on the legitimacy of the vote and refuses to commit to a peaceful transfer of power.
Meanwhile, Pentagon leaders have sought in varying degrees to shelter the military from the president’s political battles. Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been emphatic: Troops have no role in elections. His boss, Defense Secretary Mark Esper told Congress the military will adhere to the Constitution.
Concern about Election Day violence escalated after 14 men were charged in domestic terror plots, including a plan to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer, the Democratic governor of Michigan.
Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., a member of the Armed Services Committee, said the arrests and Trump declining at the Sept. 29 debate to denounce white supremacists and continuing to raise questions about the integrity of the election increases the possibility of violence.
“Unfortunately, I now have to think pretty seriously about making sure there’s not intimidation at the polls, making sure if the president really doubles down after the election and contests the results with no cause that he doesn’t do another call to action to some of these groups. I don’t think we’ll see wide-scale violence. But I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw limited skirmishes,” Slotkin said last week.
Intimidation at polling places by armed groups has the potential to be a serious problem in places like the Midwest, said Kenneth Mayer, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A private security firm has been recruiting former special operations troops to patrol polling sites on election day in Minnesota, the Washington Post has reported. Though the law varies by state, any poll watchers typically have to be certified in advance or it is illegal.
There’s no need or justification for vigilante security challenging voters at polling places, he said.
“It could be enormously volatile and dangerous,” Mayer said.
The presence of armed veterans on election day is particularly troubling, said David Lapan, former spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security and the Defense Department and a retired Marine.
“I have serious concerns with anyone who is armed and isn’t part of law enforcement on official duty, being around any polling places,” Lapan said. “Former service members, many of whom likely saw elections overseas marred by violence, should know better than to be involved in this way. If they think this is a continuation of their oaths to support and defend the Constitution, they’re wrong.”
Federal law prohibits the deployment of federal troops or law enforcement agents to polling places, according to the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice.
Though Trump has repeatedly suggested the election is “rigged,” that has been disputed by members of his administration, including Attorney General William Barr, the FBI, the National Security Agency, the National Counterintelligence and Security Center and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
At the Pentagon, Esper, Milley and other officials have answered questions about their efforts to keep the military insulated from politics since June. That’s when Milley and Esper followed Trump along a path that had been cleared through Lafayette Square of mostly peaceful protesters.
Milley later said his appearance there, in his combat uniform, was a mistake. And Esper said he regretted his reference to American cities as battle space that needed to be dominated after the mostly peaceful demonstrations that followed George Floyd’s death after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes in Minneapolis. Esper and Milley at the time did not invoke the Insurrection Act, which would have allowed federal troops to subdue domestic violence.
Milley has been left no doubt that troops be kept out of domestic politics, telling NPR that there is no role of the military in a contested election.
“If there’s a disputed election, that’ll be handled by Congress and the courts,” Milley said. “And I’m quite confident that that will be the case this time around, as it has been several times before. This isn’t the first time that someone has suggested that there might be a contested election. And if there is, it’ll be handled appropriately by the courts and by the U.S. Congress. There’s no role for the U.S. military in determining the outcome of a U.S. election. Zero. There is no role there.”
Esper, in a written response to Slotkin and Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., another member of the Armed Services Committee, had a less forceful response to their question about military action abroad to “distract the American public” before the election.
“Throughout our nation’s history, the U.S. military has been a force for good,” Esper wrote. “The Department of Defense’s enduring mission is to provide combat-credible military forces needed to deter war, defend our nation, and protect the security of our nation. The Department of Defense remains committed to carrying out this mission, consistent with the Constitution and the law.”
Slotkin said she worried that Trump could mount a military operation with Iran or China to stir up patriotism.
That’s still “a live issue” within weeks of the election, she said.
A YouGov poll this month of 1,505 voters found that 56% said they expect to see “an increase in violence as a result of the election.”
Election officials are enforcing buffer zones that prohibit electioneering within a certain distance of polling places, depending on the state.
“I don’t think we’ll see wide-scale violence. But I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw limited skirmishes.” Rep. Elissa Slotkin