WASHINGTON — In the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of the nation’s capital, outside the gates of George Washington University Medical Center, college students walked by the familiar site of a bronze bust of the school’s namesake and a new, large, white box that last week briefly touched off concerns that the nation’s democratic norms may be eroding. Monday’s foot traffic in this leafy part of the city was modest for a holiday afternoon.
At 12:39 p.m., a Metropolitan Police car drove by, sans lights or any signs of being in a hurry. One man holding a Bible, a phone tucked in his shirt pocket, briefly stood near the box. He left after about a minute.
“I haven’t even noticed the ballot box,” said longtime resident David Beatty, 68, who was picking up litter nearby as a volunteer.
Download the Straight Arrow app today to get the stories that matter free from manipulation, bias or agenda.™
Point phone camera here
But that very ballot box had garnered plenty of attention just a few days earlier.
On Friday, concerns about the ballot drop box near where Beatty stood drew concerns from local officials. An image circulated online that day of National Guard members standing in front of the box, as if warding people away from it. The official X account of Washington D.C.’s legislative body wrote that the image was “not acceptable.” A spokesman for the Guard later said its members have been told not to monitor such boxes, NBC Washington later reported.
This is clearly not acceptable https://t.co/rrlQWhtgkD
— Council of DC (@councilofdc) October 9, 2026
One man’s ballot protection plan
That traffic in the area on Monday was typical, was “a good thing,” said Beatty, who identified himself as a Democrat.
Beatty said he has an idea to secure America’s elections: After a person verifies their eligibility to vote, that person puts a sticker with a unique “crypto code” on your ballot and takes a picture of it, Beatty explained. Then, submit the ballot with the unique sticker, and officials would publish a ledger with how each unique sticker voted. The picture would act as a receipt to make sure the ballot was counted properly, he said.
That, he said, could ensure trust in the process — something he is concerned will be called into question if the results of the midterm elections don’t match up with what polls currently show. Public opinion polls show Democrats are expected to build on the historic trend of the party not in control of the White House gaining Congressional seats in the midterm. To ward that off, Republican donors including Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, have invested heavily in this year’s races.
Beatty isn’t the only American concerned with public trust in this year’s election cycle. In a statement issued to NBC Washington Friday, a spokesman for the National Guard said, “Maintaining public trust is a top priority, and JTF-DC service members are directed not to monitor or secure polling locations.” A spokesperson for the Joint Task Force did not immediately respond to Straight Arrow’s request for comment.
In late August, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, wrote in a letter to Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., that “the Joint Force has no plans to send Federal military personnel or Federalized members of the National Guard to polling places during the 2026 elections,” The Guardian reported.
Friday’s image of the National Guard at Foggy Bottom comes after President Donald Trump has continued to claim without evidence there is widespread election interference, though he appeared to back away from the notion of aggressively monitoring poll sites.
“Haven’t thought of it,” Trump said on Sept. 28, when asked during an interview with Time magazine about whether he would send immigration officials to such sites.
Washington, D.C., has 55 ballot drop boxes, which opened at 11 a.m. on Friday and will accept ballots until 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 3, according to the city. Over the last decade, there has been a trend in state legislatures “to expand absentee and mail voting laws,” according to an article published last month by the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The trend accelerated during the 2020 election cycle, amid the pandemic, though some measures created at the time have since expired. According to the NCSL, 21 states have application deadlines to vote by mail more than seven days before Election Day, up from just seven states in 2016. The earlier deadline may give administrators more time to process ballots and announce results faster, according to the article.
Standing outside the drop box at Foggy Bottom, Beatty continued to pick up litter and search for a way to raise awareness for his plan to save democracy.
“A couple of years ago I tried to get this idea out there,” Beatty said, “and I couldn’t find anybody that would listen.”
Round out your reading
- He built his own Flock-style camera to track police. The police didn’t like it.
- Trump’s apparent joke about letting Iran bomb LA and San Diego catches bipartisan condemnation.
- Grandparents are fighting for access to their grandchildren. Here’s what the law says.
- When the ‘victim’ is made with AI, child pornography cases get complicated.
- Fibermaxxing is trending. Here’s what the science says.
