Washington State
NATIONAL GUARD
'NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH'
Clark County ▪︎ Usland County ▪︎ King County ▪︎ Pierce County ▪︎ Snohomish County ▪︎ Thurston County
National Guard and DOJ expected around Washington's 2026 midterm election
Oct. 27, 2026
People register to vote at the King County Elections headquarters on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Renton, Wash. (photo)
Six Washington counties have accepted Gov. Bob Ferguson's offer to have unarmed, plainclothes National Guard members help with security around the 2026 midterms — an election that has drawn higher-than-usual attention from federal authorities.
"This is not intended to be a visible presence, and folks are not going to see Guard members, for example, stationed at drop boxes," said King County Elections Chief of Staff Kendall Hodson, adding that guardsmen will report to the elections director and supplement existing security with "additional eyes and ears."
The governor recently sent a letter to the state’s county election officials, offering to send National Guard members to help with security. The following counties accepted:
Clark County
Island County
King County
Pierce County
Snohomish County
Thurston County
Spokane County declined the offer.
The Guard's "Neighborhood Watch" mission will begin in some counties later this week, ahead of Nov. 3.
Guard members in civilian clothes will observe voting sites without interacting with voters. They will alert local authorities if problems arise. Members will be trained on the mission's limits, including laws on how close a person may be to a drop box.
In 2024, then-Gov. Jay Inslee placed National Guard members on strict standby to support local police departments if requested.
This time, the Guard members are being integrated into local county election operations. They remain under the governor’s command, but will carry out security plans developed with county election officials.
In Snohomish County, that includes watching the county's 38 drop boxes during evening and overnight hours.
"Guard members will not empty boxes, handle ballots, interact with voters, or act in any enforcement capacity," the Snohomish County Auditor's Office told KUOW.
Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey said Guard members will also watch drop boxes there. That includes the one at Fisher's Landing in Vancouver, the same location where someone set a drop box on fire two years ago, destroying hundreds of ballots.
“It was horrible. It was horrible. It was a direct attack on democracy,” Kimsey said. “You don't get much more direct than that.”
Clark County has since strengthened fire suppression and added alert sensors at drop boxes. The county is also installing cameras at its 22 official ballot drop boxes.
Ferguson's letter to the counties cited the Vancouver ballot box attack. He also referenced the envelopes containing white-powder that were recently mailed to Washington state officials as reasons for added security in this election.
Despite accepting the presence of the National Guard, Kimsey in Clark County observed that local political tensions are not what they were in 2024.
"The temperature has lowered quite a bit from two years ago, in fact, quite dramatically so," Kimsey said, noting that while security remains top of mind, the atmosphere surrounding the county's highly-contested 3rd Congressional District race feels "a lot calmer."
Federal officials focus on Washington
In King County, state National Guard members won’t be the only ones observing the voting process.
The Department of Justice told County Elections Director Julie Wise it will send monitors on Election Day. The Secretary of State's office confirmed that federal monitors will also go to Yakima County.
Brionna Aho, spokesperson with the governor’s office, also noted that, "There is no coordination between the Washington National Guard and federal election monitors.”
READ MORE:
kuow.org/elections/2026-10-2…