Polling

Markwayne Mullin says officers could be deployed ‘if there is a threat to that polling place or we’re serving a warrant’US homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin on Tuesday said that federal immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) officers could be deployed to polling sites across the country.Speaking to reporters in New York, Mullin said: “ICE isn’t there to patrol the polling places. We’re there to enforce specific threats.” Continue reading...

Letter from chair of joint chiefs of staff addresses concerns over Trump officials using military to interfere with voteThe highest‑ranking US military officer says there are no plans to deploy troops to polling places during the November midterm elections – responding to Senator Elissa Slotkin’s request for information amid concerns about whether the Trump administration might send service members to election sites.In a letter obtained by the Guardian, first reported by the Associated Press, Gen Dan Caine, chair of the joint chiefs of staff, told 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”. He added that there are also “no plans to use such personnel to seize ballots, voting machines, or other election‑related material”. Continue reading...

• Polling firm Median Strategies has shut down and retracted previous polls that showed wide leads for Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and former Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong. • The company claimed its data collection was part of a "social experiment" rather than legitimate political polling. • This revelation undermines the perceived electoral strength of the featured candidates and raises concerns about the proliferation of fake data in political reporting.

• A mysterious political firm called Median admitted to fabricating multiple election polls this month in an attempt to influence public perception. • The fake findings were spread via polling aggregation accounts on social media, though they were excluded from major databases like The New York Times and Real Clear Politics. • The incident highlights the significant danger of unvetted election surveys and the ease with which misinformation can be disseminated online.

• A bogus pollster injected fake data into the political information ecosystem, leading to the spread of misinformation through news outlets. • The scheme involved multiple UK-based companies with minimal online presence filing copyright complaints to suppress content, some of which were processed automatically by Google. • This incident highlights critical vulnerabilities in how tech platforms handle copyright notices, which can lead to the removal of legitimate news stories for up to 14 business days.

• The U.S. Justice Department has deployed approximately 20 staff members from the Civil Rights Division and Minnesota’s US attorney’s office to monitor polling sites in Hennepin and Ramsey counties for the 2026 midterms. • County officials have refused federal staff entry, forcing monitors to remain at least 100 feet outside polling locations. • This move occurs amid heightened tensions, as the Trump administration has previously targeted Minnesota with a deadly immigration crackdown and the pausing of over $500 million in Medicaid payments.

• Newsweek is analyzing 27 critical midterm election races across 19 states to determine which contests will likely decide the balance of power in Congress. • The analysis focuses on a mix of House toss-up seats and high-stakes Senate battles to gauge current political momentum. • This evaluation is significant as it utilizes polling data and market trends to predict shifts in legislative control three months before the election.