Justice Department confirms ICE and FBI will not observe November ballots

Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia allow local police to be called to polling places for the upcoming midterms.

This figure comes from a review by the National Conference of State Legislatures regarding police presence at voting sites. The breakdown shows six states explicitly require officers to be assigned or available at these locations. Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New York City, and Wisconsin are the states with these mandates. Fifteen other states have no specific rules governing police presence at the polls.

The Department of Justice provided details on federal involvement on October 28. A statement filed in federal court confirmed that employees from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation will not serve as election observers. This clarification followed a lawsuit filed by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People against the federal government.

Although ICE and FBI agents will not observe, the Justice Department plans to send staff from other agencies. Employees from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Drug Enforcement Administration will be present. The department specified that these observers will not carry firearms. They will not make arrests in the course of their observation duties, nor will they interfere with voters or election officials.

The allowed activities for these federal observers include watching the polling centers and taking notes. They may also speak voluntarily with voters outside the polling locations after those voters have cast their ballots. The Justice Department distinguished this observational role from the deployment of armed agents or military forces to monitor voters.

The Department of Defense has stated it has no plans to deploy troops to voting centers. General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin on August 31 that the military did not plan to send federal troops or federalized National Guard units to polling places. The Defense Department reiterated this position on September 30. It noted that state and local authorities hold primary responsibility for election administration and security.

State laws vary on immigration enforcement near polling places. Four states have specific provisions preventing federal immigration agents from conducting enforcement activities near voting sites. These states are Connecticut, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Virginia. New York Attorney General Letitia James reminded officials on October 27 that federal and state laws protect polling centers from armed federal agents. She noted that local authorities cannot allow immigration agents to conduct enforcement at polling places without a valid judicial order.