Dozens of Washington National Guard members have deployed to help monitor ballot drop boxes across multiple Washington counties following threats against officials ahead of the midterm elections. The mission places troops near election infrastructure while early voting is already underway.

The Washington National Guard confirmed that members had been mobilized for an effort Gov. Bob Ferguson called an “Election Neighborhood Watch.” His office said Guard members are operating in seven counties.

Those counties are King, Snohomish, Pierce, Thurston, Clark, Lewis and Island. King County includes Seattle, the largest city in the state.

Ballot drop boxes in several counties have already been operating around the clock for several weeks. The boxes are part of early voting ahead of Tuesday’s elections.

According to the governor and the military, the Guard members participating in the mission are unarmed and not wearing uniforms. The arrangement is intended to keep their presence from becoming conspicuous around voting locations.

“These individuals would not interact with voters or have a conspicuous presence at voting locations, but would be available to immediately coordinate with local authorities should issues arise,” a spokesperson for Ferguson said in a statement to Task & Purpose.

Ferguson offered the National Guard as an additional security service to counties. County officials are responsible for deciding whether to accept the military presence in their jurisdictions.

As of Friday, roughly 100 National Guard soldiers were involved in the effort. It remained unclear whether that number increased over the weekend or would rise on election day.

A Washington National Guard spokesperson declined to provide operational details, citing “the safety and security of our members performing the neighborhood watch mission.” The spokesperson did provide a broad description of what troops are expected to do.

Their primary role is to make sure ballot drop boxes are not tampered with. The spokesperson said the mission will “occur primarily during hours in which voters would not be utilizing drop boxes.”

Ferguson pointed to several recent cases involving envelopes containing suspicious materials that were sent to government officials. One letter containing white powder was mailed to Washington’s secretary of state.

The governor also cited a similar National Guard activation during the 2024 election. Then Gov. Jay Inslee mobilized troops after multiple ballot boxes on the West Coast were attacked.

In Washington that year, an arson attack struck a ballot box and damaged hundreds of ballots before the election. Other sites in Portland, Oregon, were also damaged in similar attacks.

Speaking with reporters Friday, Ferguson described his offer to counties as “proactive,” according to the Spokesman-Review. He said he was taking every available precaution to protect the voting system.

Officials have not said whether the Washington mission will conclude after Tuesday or continue through the remainder of the week. That leaves the final timeline for the Guard presence unclear as election day approaches.

The Washington deployment follows a separate controversy involving Guard troops and a ballot box in Washington, D.C. Local officials in the capital raised concerns last month after troops were photographed next to a ballot drop box.

Joint Task Force-District of Columbia, which oversees the deployment of troops from multiple states in the capital, said it was aware of the photograph. The task force said troops were not being sent to monitor or secure election sites in Washington, D.C.

In Washington state, however, the mission is explicitly focused on protecting drop boxes from tampering and coordinating quickly with local authorities if problems emerge. The troops will remain unarmed, out of uniform and largely present during hours when voters are not expected to use the boxes.