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Escalating Threats to Midterm Elections, Bannon Says Trump Will ‘Have ICE Surround the Polls’
(www.commondreams.org)
this post was submitted on 04 Feb 2026
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Ah yes voter intimidation, something that only happens in healthy stable democracies of course
Last time I voted cops were talking to a guy in a red hat outside, but everyone was chill and they were laughing and joking so I didn't pay attention.
Everyone inside, totally on edge.
I found out later that guy had taken his shirt off and yelled at poll workers which was especially problematic because he had a loaded gun tucked into his pants. No holster and I'm not even sure he had a belt.
He might be there next time too, just in uniform.
I don't give a fuck, because I know what happened in the South when people caved to that kind of voter intimidation. I'm casting a ballet even if there's bullets actively being fired at the polling location.
All this shit does is make voting more important, that's how we need to frame it.
Im considering finding a local polling location where I can stand watch and gather other like minded people so there are more of us than them there. They will be the intimidated, they are the minority.
Great spirit, terrible idea.
You won't make anyone feel more comfortable, you'll just make things crowded and chaotic.
The only reason anyone should be at a polling location is casting a vote.
You want to group up somewhere and show support, do it a block away within eyesight. Have signs and shit about how voting matters now more than ever.
Chances are ICE will come fuck with you anyways, which is still a win because then they're not at the polling station either.
Hi, poll worker here and this is absolutely accurate. If you stand in or near our polling place we will absolutely have you removed.
However… observing polls is a core part of a functional democracy and I strongly encourage you to do so. Each county is a bit different, but essentially every single one of them have some sort of process that you can register as an observer and you’ll be legally protected while observing and documenting what you see. If you’re affiliated with a political party, contact your local officials and they can help facilitate, as most observers are party affiliated.
Excellent. Thank you. This is what we need to know. We just need to have sufficient numbers of people doing legal observation at the right places.
Can you explain to me the logic of using voting as a tactic at this point? I'm very confused by the "I'll vote no matter what" that runs counter to the fact that we literally will have a fascist military force that will be involved in the voting process.
Do you think we live in a world that has SS troops door knocking BUT we also will somehow have a fair election as long as we are "brave enough"? Like, I'm genuinely asking. Do you think we can vote fascist out of power?
They'll guard the polls. They'll redistrict maps. They'll murder people in the street and say it was "self defense". They'll kidnap children. But, if we just vote them out they'll go "aw shucks, I guess we gotta pack it up".
I genuinely want to know if people think we're still at a point that we can just turn this around with voting. Am I out of touch? Like, I'm not trying to be a Doomer. There are other ways to fight them. I'm not saying to not vote if you're safe to do so. But if you're gonna dodge bullets to go vote. I really want to know if you really think that that will actually make fascist give up their power.
They spent over a month not swearing in an elected official to stop a vote on the Epstein files. What do you think they'll do if they lose too many seats? Genuinely. Am I crazy? Or am I actually paying attention?
Multiple fronts required. No one action will be the solution.
And most importantly, daily microresistance and malicious compliance, sabotage, redirection, and education.
Agree completely. I am just shocked at the amount of people that stop after your first bullet point.
the overwhelming majority of the country lives paycheck to paycheck or is otherwise one accident away from destitution
keeping people just on that edge of survival but not literally starving acts as great tool for keeping the poors inline, has been the US's bread and butter for many decades now
My take on what is likely necessary to end fascism:
I know Jan 6 happened, but they fucked off after losing the election in 2029 when the found no means of weaseling their way to hold onto power. Voting was a means to that end. Not the sole solution but absolutely a tool to be leveraged, imo.
Yeah but then Biden came into power and did nothing to stop fascism, continued to fund and support the same agencies, continued to support genocide in Palestine, and so on. Democrats are the enemy too. You must realize this.
You're not crazy. I think most people are firmly still in denial. Nobody wants to acknowledge the ugly truth of the alternative, and the necessary sacrifices involved.
Honestly, thank you. I keep seeing people pointing at things and just following up with literally pointing back at the system that has been destroyed as the solution. I guess it is denial. But often times it's hostile denial. Like, I'm the problem for saying we need to work outside of the system that has been destroyed. Or worse, that I caused it somehow by wanting to fight against it.
I see a lot of that, too. It's tragic. It makes me think of faith. People believe in their gods (the system) to protect them so long as they follow the required rituals, ceremonies, and do not question their beliefs.
People are very heavily invested into their belief and trust in the system. Seeing physical evidence of how the system doesn't work causes cognitive dissonance which can be resolved either by accepting reality (the system won't protect me, I am very vulnerable) or by continuing to reject it in some way - denial, bargaining, doomerism, etc.
All we can do is keep fighting. More and more people are waking up. I used to get hundreds of downvotes on Reddit for telling people that laws are optional for the wealthy. I remember getting yelled at by hundreds of comments about how Bill Gates is "one of the good ones", wouldn't happen now, and maybe some of those people who I argued with are further left now because of me. Progress is slow so it feels invisible to us while we're in the present. But have faith, we will win in the end.
Thanks. I don't think we will win in my lifetime though. And that's something I have to accept. Planting trees you won't enjoy the shade of and all that.