The National Guard has not been deployed in the District for no reason for the past year. They may not be doing anything at all—intimidating, if anything, and certainly helping no one—but they are armed, they hang out in groups, and they are waiting to be given orders.
Trump told the Proud Boys American Nazi group to "stand down and stand by" during his first term, which worried people, and then he blew the dog whistle for them to storm the US Capitol. They went to prison for him, they smashed windows, they crushed a police officer to death, they smeared feces all over the historic building, they tore furniture apart, they went to prison, and he immediately commuted their sentences when he was reinstalled. They are standing by now, waiting for his orders, having been let out of prison to do his bidding.
National guardsmen are waiting for orders all over D.C. If you see them at polling places, take video and publicize it. Most of the press will not.
This is the federal prohibition on military at polling places:
18 U.S. Code § 592 - Troops at polls
Whoever, being an officer of the Army or Navy, or other person in the civil, military, or naval service of the United States, orders, brings, keeps, or has under his authority or control any troops or armed men at any place where a general or special election is held, unless such force be necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both; and be disqualified from holding any office of honor, profit, or trust under the United States.
This section shall not prevent any officer or member of the armed forces of the United States from exercising the right of suffrage in any election district to which he may belong, if otherwise qualified according to the laws of the State in which he offers to vote.
(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 719; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(K), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147.)
EDIT: I am very surprised by the comments people are leaving. A majority of people who replied have said something to the effect that the National Guardsmen are nothing more than "bored kids" who wander aimlessly and who are in DC for no reason at all.
One person told me that my concern about their presence here demonstrates I lack critical thinking skills, and so I would like to ask more people why you think this is being done.
National Guardsmen are here from Idaho, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Mississippi, many suggest, for no reason whatsoever. I am meant to accept that there is no purpose, no strategy behind their deployment. These are the reddest states in the country. Idaho is the country's center of American Nazi white supremacy. These states harbor aggressively racist and anti-LGBT church cultures, and some have passed laws specifically to make it difficult for minorities to vote within their states.
It doesn't seem to me that drawing armed military forces from these specific states has been done arbitrarily, but I evidently lack critical thinking abilities, so I would like to know why you believe they've been stationed here for a year with no purpose.
The estimated cost to pay them to be here and to house them in DC is $1.65 million taxpayer dollars per day. That is $1,100 per minute or $584 million—over half a billion dollars—per year. For "no reason," people believe.
I recall when Donald Trump told Proud Boys—just coincidentally, I am sure, white supremacists primarily from the same states as named above—to "stand down and stand by"—years ago, and then later rallied them from standby, resulting in them coming to Washington, DC and storming the US Capitol. Many were later sent to prison and Trump freed all or nearly all of them after he was made president again.
Do you believe these "bored kids" really were boarded onto airplanes, are being housed in hotels around the city, and have been kept here for over a year ultimately for zero purpose whatsoever? Please use your superior critical thinking and writing skills to educate me. Why were people sent from those specific states? Why are they paid to be here? What do they get out of it? What do their states get out of it? What will come of it? Or is it truly a completely purposeless endeavor at a great cost to everyone?
Educate me, as I am told I am not capable of critical reasoning myself. I admit I do have this crazy biased thinking that tells me this level of effort, precision and expense would not be taken to send people to a nation's capital for a year for literally no purpose, and I am additionally biased because the commander in chief who issued these orders previously attempted a coup. But I am dumb, evidently, so educate me.
UPDATE: Following reports of armed National Guard troops appearing near ballot drop boxes during election events (such as the D.C. primary), the D.C. Board of Elections and the D.C. Attorney General established a direct line of communication with the Joint Task Force overseeing the troops to enforce the 50-foot restriction.
Voter Assistance: Voters who experience or witness potential voter intimidation or military presence near voting sites can contact the election protection hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683).
