Senator Kim Leads New Jersey Delegation Letter to Trump Officials Demanding Secure Midterm Elections Free of Federal Interference

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ) led members of the New Jersey congressional delegation in a letter to Director of Homeland Security Enforcement and Removal Operations, Randi Borgen, and Special Agents-in-Charge Stefanie Roddy, Wayne A. Jacobs, and Andrew McLees, demanding secure elections free of federal interference ahead of the November Midterms.

The letter was sent on the same day New Jersey voters started heading to the polls for early in-person voting (Saturday, October 24th) amid heightened concerns over the Trump Administration’s rhetoric and efforts to sow chaos into the electoral process, including threats to federalize election proceedings, a preemptive lawsuit to challenge future election results, and statements regarding the possibility of sending armed guards to polling locations, disenfranchising voters in the process.

The full letter can be read HERE.

The letter begins with, “The state of our democracy stands at a delicate moment. From mis- and disinformation about voting, to threats against election administrators, candidates, and voters themselves, the system that underpins our democratic system of government risks credibility at home and abroad because of attempts to sow chaos heading into the midterms,” the letter begins. “That is why, as early voting begins in New Jersey, we write to ask your assurances that our elections remain free from official interference and that voters have unimpeded access to the ballot. Specifically, we remain concerned about threats to deploy federal law enforcement to voting locations, which have the potential to chill voters from going to the polls whether they are native born or naturalized citizens.”

The letter then points out that Congress has long protected voters from intimidation and threats at the polls, citing examples all the way back to the Civil War. The delegation then states that currently, “These [election] threats have [now] extended beyond deployment of law enforcement and the military to the weaponization of other federal agencies, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which issued guidance in July warning nursing home staff with investigation and prosecution if they were to “violate federal or state voting laws” by assisting residents with ballots and telling staff that “they cannot engage in inappropriate coercion or other violations of residents’ rights.”

The lawmakers continue by stating, “This type of atmosphere has also served to embolden private actors to deploy unofficial and armed monitors to poll sites. Indeed, many of us were present on January 6, 2021, when armed insurrectionists sought to overturn the election results by disrupting the Joint Session of Congress as we counted electoral votes. As with the express prohibitions on the deployment of federal law enforcement and troops to the polls, our laws also prohibit voter intimidation, including by private actors. Specifically, the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 prohibits private actors from engaging in voter intimidation at the polls. And the Civil Rights Act of 1957 prohibits the intimidation of voters “for the purpose of interfering with [the right to vote].

“Closer to home, we continue to guard against repeating New Jersey’s sordid history of voter intimidation in predominantly African American and Latino communities. For over 35 years, a negotiated consent decree provided some measure of protection against efforts to intimidate voters. But in November 2025, eight years after the courts allowed the Consent Decree to expire, the state Republican party requested DOJ to send election monitors to Passaic County. We remain vigilant of similar efforts this November.

“Finally, even after voting ends, concerns about the post-election period persist following the President’s remarks in January that he should have seized ballots in 2020. Those concerns were confirmed when ballots were seized from Fulton County, Georgia in February seemingly under the supervision of the former Director of National Intelligence. Any attempts to seize ballots in November will run afoul of the Justice Department’s longstanding policy not to interfere in elections before voting, counting, and certification are complete.”

Throughout the letter, the delegation reminds the federal officials that their job required them to take an oath to the law and to the Constitution – not to Donald Trump – and demands answers to several questions about ensuring that New Jersey elections remain free from interference, voters are not intimidated, and are able to exercise their right to vote:

1. Do you agree that your agencies lack lawful authority to order, bring, keep, or maintain armed officers where a general or special election is held?

2. Will you resist orders by the President, the Attorney General, and/or the Secretary of Homeland Security to deploy your agents to polling sites in New Jersey?

3. Have local field offices like yours received any policy directives ahead of the elections that direct or coordinate efforts to deploy law enforcement agents to voting sites on Election Day?

4. How will you respond if ordered to seize ballots before, during, or after Election Day?

The lawmakers end with, “We further request you preserve all records and communications related to the questions raised in this letter from January 1, 2025, through the completion of the seating of the 120th Congress. This applies to all relevant agency records within your possession or any person within the agency’s field office. This includes, but is not limited to, records and communications via email, whether official or personal; mobile devices; encrypted or disappearing messaging applications; social media; calendar entries; meeting notes; and voicemail and text messages. To the extent that you use any auto-delete functions, you should immediately suspend auto-delete functions and notify persons with control over potentially relevant records of similar preservation obligations.”

Members who joined Senator Kim in signing this letter included Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Representatives Rob Menendez (D-NJ-08), Analilia Mejia (D-NJ-11), LaMonica McIver (D-NJ-10), Frank Pallone (D-NJ-06), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ-12), Herb Conaway (D-NJ-03), Donald Norcross (D-NJ-01) and Nellie Pou (D-NJ-09).

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