Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, has offered the state's 39 county auditors unarmed National Guard members in civilian clothes to "inconspicuously monitor" ballot drop boxes and other busy voting locations through the November 3 election, and by Saturday morning, October 24, at least five counties (Clark, King, Pierce, Thurston and Snohomish) had accepted. Spokane County declined. Its auditor, Vicky Dalton, said her office "appreciates the offer from the governor, we're not going to make use of that particular resource," and that it had no "significant reports" of security concerns. Ferguson pointed to drop boxes set on fire in Vancouver, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, ahead of the 2024 election and to letters containing white powder sent to the Secretary of State's office and two members of Congress. Some on the political left have worried that a Guard presence near drop boxes could itself intimidate voters, while state Rep. Jim Walsh, who chairs the Washington State Republican Party, called the announcement "absurd" and criticized what he called the "hysterical" political left over claims that ICE would be deployed at ballot boxes, according to the University of Washington's Center for an Informed Public.
What the offer is
In his letter, Ferguson described the Guard members as an "Election Neighborhood Watch" and "eyes and ears on the ground," whose purpose is to "ensure that Washington voters can safely exercise their right to vote and that their ballots are secure." They would not interact with voters, but would watch and alert local authorities if a problem arose. "Whether to accept this offer is your decision," he wrote. Thurston County, the first to accept, said the Guard members "will be unarmed, out of uniform, and will operate directly under the Thurston County Auditor" in coordination with local law enforcement, that they "will not serve as law enforcement," and that they will not touch or process ballots. In Snohomish County, they will report to the auditor and watch official drop boxes overnight in a limited role, FOX 13 Seattle reported. The state has not said how many Guard members will take part. The Washington Guard has provided cybersecurity support for the state's elections since 2016; this would add a physical presence where counties ask for it.
Why now
The letter cites two kinds of threats. Ahead of the 2024 election, incendiary devices set ballot drop boxes on fire in Vancouver and Portland, destroying hundreds of ballots in Vancouver, and then-Gov. Jay Inslee activated some Guard members in response. More recently, letters containing an unknown white powder were mailed to the Secretary of State's office and to the offices of U.S. Reps. Pramila Jayapal and Adam Smith. The Spokesman-Review noted that the letter does not cite a specific safety threat to this year's election.
Katie Daviscourt, a reporter for the conservative outlet The Post Millennial, offered a different explanation: she posted that the offer was meant to guard against "federal overreach" or "intimidation," citing unnamed sources in the Washington National Guard; that account has not been confirmed, and the governor's letter does not mention federal agents. Federal law bars federal troops and armed federal personnel from polling places, but it does not restrict a state's use of its own Guard, the Center for an Informed Public noted; the letter does not say under what duty status the Guard members would serve.
Other election news from Washington
Separately, two bins holding 92 undelivered mail ballots were recently found in a Seattle dumpster near Golden Gardens park. King County Elections said the ballots came from stolen mail, were never delivered, and had already been canceled and reissued to the voters, and that it reported the theft to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and local police.
This article reflects reporting through the evening of Sunday, October 25, 2026. Sources: The Spokesman-Review, October 23; KOMO News, October 22; FOX 13 Seattle, October 23; University of Washington Center for an Informed Public, "Election Rumor Rundown," October 24.
