Hickenlooper, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Stop Trump from Using Military to Interfere with Elections

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper recently joined his Senate colleagues to introduce the Protect Our Polls Act, which would protect American elections from interference or intimidation by armed uniformed military or federal law enforcement.

"President Trump has made it clear he'll win elections by any means necessary," said Hickenlooper. "He already sent the military into our cities to intimidate Americans. The polls are next. We need to pass these safeguards into law before November."

The Protect our Polls Act would restrict the deployment of military forces and armed federal agents to polling places. Current federal law includes a loophole that allows troops to be sent to polling sites without congressional signoff in the rare case that they need to repel armed enemies of the United States. This bill closes the loophole by requiring Congress to pass a Joint Resolution of Approval to deploy troops. The president would also be required to give Congress intel, legal justification, and evidence that state or local governments can't handle the threat alone, and to do so at least 48 hours before deploying forces.

President Trump has made it his goal to restrict voters' access to the polls and undermine free and fair elections heading into November. In the last six months, he's repeated his claim about "rigged" elections over 107 times. He's attempted to seize ballots in Georgia, Michigan, and Arizona, and sued 30 states for their voter rolls. He signed an executive order in March to restrict mail-in-voting, and USPS released proposed rules earlier this month to deny vote-by-mail to any state that refuses to hand over their voter rolls. And just last month, in response to a reporter asking whether he would send ICE or National Guard members to polling locations during the midterm elections, President Trump said he "would do anything necessary to make sure we have honest elections."

Hickenlooper has consistently fought voter suppression efforts by Trump and MAGA Republicans. He's stood up to their attacks on mail-in-voting, a provensafe and secure voting method. He cosponsors several pieces of voting rights legislation, including the For the People Act, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and the Freedom to Vote Act. As governor, Hickenlooper created the gold-standard mail-in-voting system in the country, providing millions of Coloradans with easier access to the ballot box.

Text of the bill available HERE.

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