Braxton Taylor
Hundreds of National Guardsmen from 18 states and Washington, D.C., have been activated or are on standby on the eve of the U.S. presidential election, according to a defense official.
The official told Military.com that Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, North Carolina, New Mexico, Wisconsin and Washington state have all activated small numbers of National Guard troops on state orders, around 126 service members in total.
Additionally, Guardsmen from Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia and Washington, D.C., are also on standby. Oregon has some Guardsmen activated as well as on standby.
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Many of those deployed are “cyber specialists” and civil support teams, the official added, detailing that there are no specific state orders for military law enforcement — although some are on standby.
The 2024 election between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump has been highly divisive, with U.S. intelligence agencies warning of potential violence and unrest as Americans cast ballots and the vote is counted. Those warnings have partly centered on the threat of extremists driven by election fraud conspiracy theories similar to those pushed by Trump following his 2020 loss.
Neither state nor Pentagon officials have suggested that these activations and standbys will run past the week of the election.
Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon’s top spokesman, said that “another 600 Guardsmen” were on standby if needed. He also told reporters that the activations and standbys were a routine practice.
“The National Guard has ongoing and long-standing relationships with local, state and federal agency partners, and has assisted with national special security events like Election Day and Inauguration Day for many years,” Ryder added.
Requests by state governors to keep their Guardsmen prepared ahead of Election Day began last week.
In Washington state, Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee activated his state’s National Guard on Friday “in the event they are asked to support local law enforcement and the Washington State Patrol during election week,” a statement from his office detailed.
A letter from Inslee to the state’s adjutant general requesting the Guard activation said that “an incendiary device was set off in a drop box in Vancouver, Washington, damaging or destroying hundreds of ballots” on Oct. 28, adding “the potential for further violence and illegal activity” prompted his call.
Additionally, last week, Nevada Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo’s office also issued a statement saying that “60 total members of the National Guard will be activated on standby status and stationed in Nevada National Guard facilities in both Carson City and Las Vegas.”
Notably, Nevada is considered one of seven swing states in the 2024 presidential election.
Oregon’s Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek also told the Oregon Capital Chronicle news outlet that attempts to intimidate voters are “un-American and will not be tolerated,” but her state’s National Guardsmen are also standing ready.
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