U.S. military doesn’t plan to deploy troops to the polls in November, general says

Responding to a senator’s questions, Gen. Dan Caine said the Pentagon doesn’t plan to send military personnel to voting sites or to seize ballots or voting machines.

The U.S. military is not planning to send troops or other personnel to polling places during the 2026 midterm elections, according to Gen. Dan Caine, the country’s highest-ranking military officer.

Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the pledge in a letter to Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., who had asked him and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about the role of the armed forces during the November elections.

“Election administration and security remain the fundamental responsibility of state and local officials,” Caine wrote to Slotkin. “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.”

The letter, obtained by NBC News, was first reported by The Associated Press.

Caine wrote that “I have neither received nor anticipate receiving any unlawful order concerning the role of the Joint Force in the upcoming November 2026 midterm elections.”