Washington, D.C., Attorney General Brian Schwalb told voters on Tuesday to report the presence of National Guard troops near voting locations, emphasizing that federal personnel at polling stations is illegal.
Schwalb said in an X post that his office had contacted the Trump administration about the issue in the days leading up to the midterm elections and service members stationed in the district have been instructed to avoid voting centers.
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“Federal law prohibits the military and federal law enforcement from interfering with elections,” he said. “OAG has contacted the Administration about the presence of National Guard troops and federal agents near voting locations in recent days. National Guard leadership has advised that members of Joint Task Force-DC, which includes both the National Guard and federal law enforcement, have been directed not to patrol at or near any voting locations in the District.”
Schwalb instructed residents who spot possible violations to contact his office or the DC Board of Elections by phone or email.
“Every DC resident has the right to vote free of intimidation or interference,” he added.
Schwalb’s office put out a press release last month informing voters of their rights regarding poll monitoring. The information details that federal law generally bars the government from sending military personnel to polling locations, as well as the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and U.S. Marshals.
District residents will be voting for the next mayor, delegate to the U.S. House, two at-large seats on the D.C. council, and several seats on the ward level in Tuesday’s general election. Washington is considered reliably blue.
The 2026 midterm elections mark the first general election in Washington since President Donald Trump returned to the White House and deployed the National Guard as part of the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force to combat crime. The National Guard members’ deployment began in August 2025 and extends until Inauguration Day in 2029.
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Outside of the district, the Trump administration has deployed roughly 1,000 election monitors from the Department of Justice across all 50 states on Election Day. In comparison, former President Joe Biden’s DOJ sent fewer than 400 monitors to 24 states in the last midterm elections in 2022.
The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division has deployed election monitors since the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1965, but deployments are typically limited and based on need. Federal election monitors watch for compliance with federal voting laws and have more power than typical volunteer observers sent by parties, but are still only monitors.