With the midterm elections less than two months away, Democrats are training thousands of volunteers on how to respond to any potential incidents of voter intimidation at the polls in November. The New Battlefield Project—an initiative that is being coordinated by the Association of State Democratic Committees (ASDC), which operates under the Democratic National Committee (DNC)—involves training at least 10,000 volunteers so that they’ll be equipped to counter interference or intimidation at polling locations across the country if such situations arise, says Jane Kleeb, the chair of the Nebraska Democratic party and president of the ASDC. The on-the-ground team—dubbed the “Democracy Protectors”—will be wearing blue to distinguish themselves, and will be trained in de-escalating conflicts and documenting any potential “bad actors and bad behavior.” Information about such incidents would then be passed along to the state party and the DNC to take action where necessary.
Kleeb says the volunteers will also be helpful resources to voters—for instance, they can help direct people to the right polling locations. The trainings, Kleeb adds, are based on constitutional observer trainings that the Minnesota Democratic Party coordinated amid Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the state. In addition to the Democracy Protectors, the New Battlefield Project includes teams that are focused on encouraging citizens to register to vote and to vote early, as well as on dispelling any misinformation or disinformation spreading online ahead of Election Day.
The DNC musters an election protection program every year, and states sometimes train volunteers to perform similar tasks. But this year’s effort is larger in its scope and is being coordinated nationwide. Kleeb says Democrats were spurred to launch the initiative because of speculation and concerns they were hearing from voters, candidates, and elected officials that President Donald Trump could send federal agents to polling places.
The Justice Department announced last month that its Civil Rights Division would be “monitoring polling sites in Florida and Wyoming for the states’ primary elections to ensure transparency, ballot security, and compliance with federal law.” On Tuesday, FBI Director Kash Patel also indicated that he was not opposed to the idea of dispatching federal agents to voting locations. Separately, Trump has deployed the National Guard to cities across the country, including Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., with the stated goal of helping combat crime, though the data indicates that crime rates in many of those cities have been falling for years. When asked in May if he would send members of the National Guard or ICE officers to the polls, Trump replied, “I’d do anything necessary to make sure we have honest elections.” The troops’ presence, as well as comments from the President and his allies, has raised concerns from some Democrats that the military could be sent to voting locations.
Members of the military are prohibited under federal law from being sent to “any place where a general or special election is held,” however. And in August, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin in a letter that the “Joint Force has no plans to send Federal military personnel or Federalized members of the National Guard to polling places during the 2026 elections.
Likewise, the Joint Force has no plans to use such personnel to seize ballots, voting machines, or other election-related material.” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said earlier this month that ICE—which has also ramped up enforcement in cities around the U.S. since Trump returned to office—“isn’t there to patrol the polling places.” But he added that “We’re there to enforce specific threats,” a comment that exacerbated fears among Democrats, advocates, and voters that ICE agents may show up at the polls in November. When asked about the possibility of ICE agents being stationed at the polls during the midterms, then-White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier this year that that was “not something [she has] ever heard the President consider.” “I can’t guarantee that an ICE agent won’t be around a polling location in November,” Leavitt said in February. But what I can tell you is I haven’t heard the President discuss any formal plans to put ICE outside of polling locations.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
