Joe Morelle, U.S. Congressman representing New York’s 25th district since 2018, addressed election security concerns in a series of tweets posted on May 1, 2026. In his posts, Morelle discussed the importance of both prevention and response when managing threats to the election process.
Morelle wrote, “That means planning for both prevention and response. A question I ask my team frequently is: ‘how do we prevent that from happening and then, if it does happen, how do we respond to it?'” (May 1, 2026). He further detailed his team’s approach by stating, “So far, we’ve identified dozens of threats to the election process, and we’re adding more to our list every day. And for each one we have sort of a matrix: what we think the likelihood is and then what’s the damage that it could cause?” (May 1, 2026).
In another tweet on the same day, Morelle highlighted preparations for potential real-world scenarios at polling places. He stated, “We’re also preparing for real-world scenarios, including intimidation at the polls by ICE Agents. As I told @TPM: ‘There are federal laws… against armed federal agents being at polling places.'” (May 1, 2026).
Joseph Morelle has served as a member of Congress since replacing Louise Slaughter in 2018. Before joining Congress, he served in the New York State Assembly from 1991 to 2018. Born in Utica in 1957 and currently residing in Irondequoit, Morelle graduated with a BA from the State University of New York at Geneseo in 1986.
