In early September, the New Hanover County Board of Elections hosted a stop on the North Carolina Network for Fair, Safe and Secure Elections’ Trusted Elections Tour. Board of elections members and the county’s elections director fielded questions from the audience, including one that was repeatedly asked: What happens if the Trump Administration sends ICE or other federal agents to polling places?
President Trump has repeatedly claimed without evidence that voter fraud will undermine this year’s midterm election. He’s also suggested sending a variety of law enforcement figures to the polls, as have several Trump supporters. Late last month, Trump told Time he wouldn’t rule declaring a federal emergency to mobilize the military or sending federal immigration officers to the polls.
As the center-left-leaning Brennan Center for Justice noted, “The law is crystal clear,” in prohibiting sending ICE to election sites.
“It is illegal to deploy federal troops or armed federal law enforcement to any polling place. In fact, it is a federal crime for anyone in the U.S. military to interfere in elections in any way,” the nonprofit’s senior director for voting rights and elections, Sean Morales-Doyle, wrote earlier this year.
As the Brennan Center notes, there is an exception if “such force be necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States,” and some voting-rights activists have voiced concern, including during the Trusted Election Tour, that the Trump Administration will claim that exemption during the upcoming election.
On Wednesday, the Department of Justice said the FBI and ICE would not serve as poll monitors, though employees of the ATF, DEA, and Federal Bureau of Prisons will be deployed. As reported by The Hill and others, the statement was made in a court filing in response to an NAACP lawsuit over using federal agents to monitor the 2026 midterm election.
The DOJ’s filing also notes that, though the monitors will be employees of federal law enforcement agencies, they will not be acting as law enforcement at the polls, and will be prohibited from being armed with firearms. The DOJ claimed its election monitors have been trained not to interfere and to comply with all election rules.
According to the North Carolina State Board of Elections, DOJ election monitors will be in Wake, Alamance, and Mecklenburg counties on Election Day, as reported by NC Newsline.
According to Kristen Daley, the public relations specialist for the New Hanover County Board of Elections (BoE), New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office deputies will “patrol the areas surrounding Early Voting sites and Election Day polling places but will not be stationed at polling places as part of routine operations.”
Daley said the BoE has received guidance from the state in the event of federal intervention at polling places or the elections office.
Elections Director Eric Navagh added, “We will rely on our Chief Judges to notify us of any instances like this reaching the polling place. However, if we are made aware of the presence of any federal agency, the State Board as advised we notify them so that they can communicate with their direct points of contact at said agencies.”
If you have concerns about federal agencies near or at a polling site, or other concerns about interference with or intimidation of voters, you can contact the site lead or chief judge at the early voting location or election day polling site.
“If a situation requires additional assistance, they are instructed to contact our office so the matter can be escalated through the appropriate channels,” Daley said.
