U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Michigan, is warning Michiganders the 47th POTUS may attempt to ensure there’s no cheating in the 2026 midterm election.
“I want to flag an issue that I think is gonna become into greater and greater focus here between now and November,” Slotkin explained in a video posted to X on Wednesday, “and that is the potential role of the Department of Homeland Security, and ICE specifically, at our polls in November,” she wrote.
There are all kinds of signals flashing that this President and his administration are going to send ICE to the polls. pic.twitter.com/vXwn566Uvy
— Sen. Elissa Slotkin (@SenatorSlotkin) April 1, 2026
“We have big elections coming up in 2026 all across the country. And last week, the now new secretary of homeland security, Markwayne Mullin, was asked specifically about whether he thought ICE could be deployed to polls,” the former CIA analyst continued. “And he would not rule out the possibility that ICE might have to be sent to sensitive polling locations around the country.”
That would be a relief to nearly two dozen Republicans who petitioned the President Donald Trump’s administration in November to call for federal oversight of Michigan’s 2026 elections, which includes an open U.S. Senate seat.
The state senators and representatives for millions of Michiganders cited an array of concerns about Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s election oversight, from her own campaign finance violations, to her refusal to vet the state’s bloated voter rolls, to at least 69 election-related lawsuits – “more than the combined total of Michigan’s previous four secretaries of state.”
The letter noted numerous courts have found election guidance from Benson, who is overseeing her own election for governor as the Democratic frontrunner, violated the law.
“Given this extensive history of violations, conflicts and failures, we believe federal monitoring is essential to safeguard the 2026 elections,” the state lawmakers wrote in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi. “We urge the DOJ to deploy personnel to observe polling places, absentee ballot processing, voter registration activities and central count facilities across Michigan. Such oversight will help ensure adherence to federal laws, prevent irregularities and retore faith in our democratic processes.”
The letter followed legislation from Rep. Jennifer Wortz, R-Quincy, a month prior that aimed to force the Secretary of State to resign upon filing for or being nominated or appointed to any other elected or appointed public office.
“I didn’t introduce this bill just because of Secretary Benson, but her actions underscore the importance of legislation like this,” Wortz said. “If she had to resign upon filing, she wouldn’t have made her announcement in her own office building, because it wouldn’t have been hers. If she had to resign, we wouldn’t have to worry about unfair election rules or guidance coming down from her office ahead of the election next year. I think everyone would sleep easier knowing there is zero chance of foul play.”
Slotkin, who voted against proof of citizenship to register and photo ID to vote, ignored Benson’s obvious conflict of interest in Michigan, but ironically used the same argument to suggest Trump, who cannot seek re-election, should have no role in ensuring states follow federal election laws.
“Our founding fathers thought it was important that no one president could become like a king and run the elections that would or would not elect him,” she said. “So they gave the power to states.”
“This is something that should be truly and utterly, uh, just extraordinary to ever require, you know, a threat that requires ICE at the polls,” she said. “Unfortunately, the president is saying the quiet part out loud. … You have Steve Bannon saying that ICE is at the airports now, and that is practice for when you might need ICE at the polls in November.
“There’s all kinds of signals just flashing that this president and his administration are going to do things to try and affect the outcome of the election and therefore, I wanted to shine a spotlight on this issue,” Slotkin said.
Michigan’s junior senator didn’t bother to discuss the Trump administration’s numerous efforts to bolster election security that have been repeatedly rejected by Benson.
The Secretary of State has steadfastly refused to work with the DOJ to vet the state’s bloated voter rolls of ineligible voters, shielded public information on illegal votes cast in 2024, and vowed to defy Trump’s recent executive order on citizenship verification for elections.
While Slotkin argued Michiganders can trust local officials to administer elections, Benson attacked Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini as “reckless” when he exposed hundreds of noncitizens appearing in jury pools, including some with a documented voting history.
In total, Forlini flagged 640 noncitizens summoned for jury duty in 2025 from the state’s driver’s license database, and a cross reference with the state’s Qualified Voter File found 18 were registered to vote.
Of those 18, four were removed from the state’s Qualified Voter File – one of which has a voting record – one was placed in “challenge” status, three were referred for removal, and 10 had previously had their registrations canceled, including two with a record of voting, Forlini wrote in a column for the Macomb Daily.
“The Secretary of State’s office has repeatedly stated that Michigan maintains one of the cleanest voter rolls in the nation. If that is true, then identifying non-citizens within the system should be viewed as proof that local review mechanisms work, not as an attack on democracy,” wrote Forlini, a Republican candidate for Secretary of State.
While Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson ultimately acknowledged at least one noncitizen identified by Forlini cast ballots in multiple elections, in addition to at least 16 identified by her office last year, she nonetheless framed the findings as part of a plot by Republicans to “dismantle people’s faith” in the system.
When Benson took office, Michigan had approximately 7.5 million registered voters, which was about 300,000 fewer than the voting-age population of roughly 7.8 million. Over the next several years, the state added 700,000 registrations, many automatically through driver’s license renewals, bringing the total to 8.2 million registered voters for a voting-age population of about 7.9 million by 2022, the same year Democrats regained full control of state government for the first time in four decades.
Benson has repeatedly claimed Michigan is a shining example of election integrity for other states, but will not answer simple questions about noncitizens on the voter rolls.
She insists noncitizen voting is not a legitimate issue, but campaigns against proof of citizenship and voter ID requirements on both the state and national level.
She has promised increased transparency on the lobbyists and labor unions funding political campaigns, but her $9 million campaign finance website remains inoperable more than a year after launch.
She professes to protect all Michiganders from the Trump administration, but faces multiple lawsuits alleging racial discrimination in her department.
And like Slotkin, she’s feeding hysteria about efforts to increase federal oversight of elections, while working to preserve a system many Michiganders no longer trust.
During an interview with MSNBC, Benson said she’s assembled a “grassroots army” and is actively “scenario planning” in anticipation of election mayhem, alleging the “threats are real” in 2026.
“In Michigan, we actually have a grassroots army of officials who actually go around the state, and we’ve done this in every single election during my term as Secretary of State, where we have people on the ground ready, all of them within 5 minutes of every voting location, ready to respond with eyes on the ground to deescalate, to mitigate, and to protect above all else the will of the people and those voting machines and all operations of elections,” said Benson, who has smeared Trump’s efforts over the last year to secure the 2026 election as a “power grab” with nefarious intentions.
