Photos and videos authentically show National Guard members illegally guarding a ballot drop box in Washington, D.C., in October 2026.
A spokesperson for Joint Task Force-District of Columbia said it was “addressing” the instance the photos and videos showed, supporting Snopes’ conclusion they were authentic. Snopes independently verified the location the photos and videos showed.
There was no evidence to suggest the National Guard members seen in the video had been assigned to guard the ballot drop box or otherwise intimidate voters. The joint task force spokesperson said the service members were “standing near,” not guarding, the drop box.
It remained unclear why the National Guard members were at the Foggy Bottom-GWU Metro station on Oct. 8. National Guard troops have been patrolling Washington, D.C., since August 2025.
On Oct. 8, videos and images (archived, archived) circulated online that social media users claimed showed National Guard members illegally guarding a ballot drop box in Washington, D.C.
The footage spread less than a month before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
For example, one Facebook page that shared an image of three National Guard members standing around a ballot drop box wrote, “This is not what democracy is supposed to look like in America. And it isn’t just wrong. It may be against the law.”
Images and videos of the National Guard members standing around the ballot drop box also circulated on X (archived). Snopes readers contacted us about the images and videos.
Claims about the images and videos were a mixture of true, false and undetermined elements.
A spokesperson for Joint Task Force-D.C., the military command unit that coordinates National Guard troops in Washington, told Snopes via email that it was “aware” of photos and videos of National Guard members standing near a ballot box, supporting Snopes’ conclusion that the imagery was authentic, meaning not digitally altered or generated using artificial intelligence.
However, there is no evidence that the National Guard members seen in the imagery were patrolling or guarding the ballot drop box. The Joint Task Force D.C. spokesperson said:
Maintaining public trust is a top priority, and JTF-DC service members are directed not to monitor or secure polling locations. JTF-DC is actively addressing this specific instance and remains fully committed to conducting its missions professionally, lawfully, and with respect for the public’s constitutional rights.
The spokesperson did not elaborate on why, if not to guard the ballot drop box, the National Guard members were standing by it. The reason for their presence remains unclear.
The Washington Post reported on Oct. 9, citing two anonymous National Guard officials, that the Guard members seen in photos and videos were part of “a larger group that had paused as part of a patrol but were not specifically guarding the box.” Snopes contacted the National Guard to independently verify this statement but had not heard back at the time of this writing.
We also contacted the Washington, D.C., Board of Elections, which the Post reported had requested “limitations” on National Guard members standing near ballot drop boxes and voting locations, to ask whether it had received confirmation of why the Guard members were at the ballot drop box and await a reply.
U.S. federal law criminalizes deploying federal troops or armed federal law enforcement agents to “any place where a general or special election is held.” Voter intimidation, which federal law defines as “interfering with the right of such other person to vote or to vote as he may choose,” also is illegal.
There’s no evidence that the troops seen in the photos and videos from Washington were illegally deployed to the ballot box in question to guard it or intimidate voters. JTF-DC has been coordinating National Guard troops in the U.S. capital since Aug. 11, 2025, at the behest of President Donald Trump.
Snopes verified the location of the ballot drop box that appeared in videos and photos using Google Maps imagery as outside the Foggy Bottom-GWU Metro station.
The video that circulated showed the ballot box next to a statue of the former President George Washington on the 800 block of 23rd Street Northwest. A street sign that indicated the intersection of 23rd Street Northwest and I Street Northwest appeared at the beginning of the video.
Images of the National Guard members on X and Facebook showed at least one of the same National Guard members from the video and the statue of Washington.
Bryan Randolph, a lawyer who goes by BrynoDC on social media, said he recorded the footage of the National Guard members at the ballot box on Oct. 8.
For further reading, Snopes has reported on numerous claims connected to the 2026 elections.
