Democrats Launch 'New Battlefield Project' to Guard Polls Ahead of Midterms

Democratic state parties unveiled a new operation on Monday aimed at protecting the midterm elections, recruiting 10,000 volunteers to stand watch at polling locations should armed federal officers appear. The effort, called the "New Battlefield Project," is part of a broader mobilization by Democrats, activist groups and legal scholars preparing for potential interference in voting and ballot counting.

Activists are organizing mass protests in the event the administration attempts to disrupt the vote, while legal academics are circulating white papers advising judges on how to respond if the government tries to seize ballots. The guidance was prompted in part by the administration's earlier seizure of 2020 ballots and election records in Fulton County, Georgia, based on discredited conspiracy theories.

The contingency planning reflects deep anxiety about the state of American democracy as voting begins. "We have never prepared for an election sabotage event like we have now," said Ezra Levin of the left-leaning group Indivisible, which has run 17 scenarios for November.

Democrats point to President Donald Trump's first-term refusal to accept his 2020 loss to Joe Biden, his pardons for more than 1,000 people prosecuted over the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack, and his staffing of the administration with figures who aided his earlier efforts. Since returning to power, Trump has pushed Republicans to redraw congressional maps, held an unusual midterm convention and sought to change election rules as states begin mailing ballots.

Courts have blocked his attempts to reshape election rules by executive order, including a bid to limit mail voting, with that case now before the Supreme Court. Election officials warn his requirements cannot be implemented in time. The White House dismissed Democratic concerns. "The only 'fears' Americans have about our elections are being fueled by extreme liberal Democrats," spokeswoman Lauren Blis said, citing support for voter ID and other security measures.

Both parties traditionally mobilize large legal and volunteer operations. The Republican National Committee said it has recruited a record number of poll watchers, calling it the largest election integrity operation in party history. Democrats have expanded their own efforts, with the Association of State Democratic Parties adding the recruitment project and a network to track online threats, according to chair Jane Kleeb.

"If they're saying they're going to put armed people outside polling places, we should put friendly people outside polling locations to film them," Kleeb said. "There's a whole new battlefield we have now."

Much of the concern centers on whether Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers will be deployed to polls. Administration officials have repeatedly denied such plans, though Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said this month it was possible. Civil rights groups and the city of Denver filed suit last week seeking to bar ICE from polling sites under a Civil War-era law prohibiting armed federal agents at elections.

"This administration is basically using the rhetoric that undocumented citizens are voting and that they're going to have DHS and ICE at the polls to try and intimidate and suppress the Latino vote," said Juan Proaño of the League of United Latin American Citizens, a plaintiff.

Democrats and civil rights groups are also rehearsing responses to possible ICE or National Guard deployments, though the Pentagon says it has no plans to send troops. The No Kings network is launching an early-voting campaign that will peak with rallies on October 17. Some organizers look to the anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis as a possible model, after two activists were shot and killed by ICE agents in January and the administration eventually eased its crackdown there.