Election Officials Are Getting Ready for ICE to Show Up at the Polls
A week later, at the Conservative Political Action Conference meeting, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche endorsed the idea of ICE in the election and repeated the conspiracy theory that noncitizens were voting as an excuse to deploy ICE. “Why are there objections to sending ICE agents to polling places? » he asked. “Illegals cannot vote. It makes no sense.”
Asked about ICE’s deployment during the election, White House Press Secretary Abigail Jackson said: “President Trump has been clear: securing our elections and ensuring that only American citizens vote in American elections is a top priority. »
Similarly, a DHS spokesperson referred Mullin’s comments to WIRED, adding, “Elections exist for the American people, not illegal aliens, to choose their leaders.” »
Elections have always been run by the states, as outlined in the U.S. Constitution, and despite calls from Trump and his allies to “nationalize” elections, that will remain the case for the 2026 midterms. Deploying ICE, the National Guard, or any other armed federal agents to voting locations is illegal under U.S. law.
However, the political messaging has left election officials and voters uncertain about what to expect.
“I think the record of the administration is such that even though I reassure people and tell them that we have obtained this assurance, [that ICE won’t be at polling locations]”I’m not sure how much they believe it,” says an election director in an eastern state. “I’m not sure the administration itself really knows which direction it’s going to go, but we’re preparing for all scenarios.” The director asked not to be named out of fear of government reprisals and concerns that federal election funds might be withheld.
In Maine, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows sought written assurances from the government, sending a letter to DHS in March seeking confirmation that ICE would not be deployed during the election. The letter was signed by eight other secretaries of state. Months later, Bellows has still not received a response.
“We have not received any satisfactory assurances from the federal government, but we are not expecting any,” Bellows says. “Donald Trump has no right to invade our polling places, seize our ballots, or control our elections just because he wants to. The Constitution and federal law could not be clearer that states, not the federal government, are in charge of elections.”
Maine is one of dozens of states that the Justice Department has sued for refusing to grant access to unredacted voter rolls. Last September, the government filed a lawsuit against Bellows, claiming that in his capacity as secretary of state, Maine failed to comply with the nation’s voter registration law. Bellows filed a motion to dismiss the suit.
Like many other elections directors, Bellows and his colleagues are preparing for eventualities they’ve never had to think about before. “Election officials are the best emergency planners in the world,” Bellows says. “In the past, we have predicted natural disasters, power outages and, more recently, bomb threats, and we have been able to oversee successful elections. »
