'I took an oath to the Constitution, not a president': Ruben Gallego backs election bill

Former Marine and current junior senator from Arizona, Ruben Gallego, expressed his support for the Protect Our Polls Act, introduced recently by Democrats. Gallego said that he had taken an oath to the Constitution, and not any particular president, adding that the Trump administration's agenda to send military and law enforcement to polling stations was illegal.

"When you start sending our military to the polls, when you start sending our military to do civilian enforcement of some sort, you are going to undermine the support of the military," he said. "We are no longer going to be the most trusted entity in this country, according to voters and according to everyday Americans. We are going to be seen as partisan." Gallego claimed that in countries where the military was used to influence voters, support for the military among civilians declined.

"I find it very scary that, in all attempts that we have had to pen in this opportunity of abuse, the Republicans have blocked it. And we are not exaggerating about the threats. Right now, in Maricopa County, ICE investigators are investigating the 2020 election. We have seen Donald Trump repeatedly say that he wants to investigate the 2020 elections... Every day, Donald Trump is proving that he has a plan, and given the opportunity, he will try to use whatever levers of government...in order for him to stay in power," Gallego said during an interaction with the public to inform them of the introduction of the Protect Our Polls Act.

He was joined on stage with Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who led the group that introduced the bill. According to a report in CBS News, the proposed bill will put a stop to any attempt to send federalized National Guard, active duty military, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or other federal law enforcement to polling stations or to seize election material.

As per federal law, the deployment of military and armed federal forces to polling stations is already restricted. The only exception is if there is a threat from "armed enemies of the United States." Even so, the president would need to provide evidence to Congress that the state in question would not be able to handle the threat, and hope that the two Houses would pass a Joint Resolution of Approval.

"President Trump has been saying the quiet part out loud: he wants to undermine our elections any way he can, and he refuses to rule out sending uniformed military to the polls, or to collect ballots and voting machines," Slotkin said, as per an official release. "Our legislation prevents President Trump from weaponizing our military and armed federal officers to interfere in our elections. From 2016 until just last week, President Trump has worked to sow doubt in our election results, and I am glad to be joined by Senators from across the country, especially states like Arizona, Georgia, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, which, along with Michigan, the president has targeted."