Voters may see federal agents at ballot drop boxes and polling places this November, according to thousands of records uncovered at ICE, CBP; U.S. law prohibits voter intimidation or deploying armed federal agents, military to polling places
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, joined Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) and 10 Senate colleagues in writing to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth demanding to know whether the Trump administration plans to deploy armed federal law enforcement officers at polling sites during the November 2026 elections. Deploying armed federal agents or military, or any intimidation of voters, would be illegal.
In October 2025, the Democratic National Committee requested records concerning the possible deployment of federal law enforcement to polling places, ballot-drop locations, and election offices. During ensuing litigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) acknowledged finding more than 11,000 potentially responsive pages and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said it had turned up almost 117,000 records.
These disclosures reinforce the fear that the Administration is planning a potentially unlawful, illegal, and unconstitutional intrusion into the November election.
“Americans should never have to wonder whether the federal government intends to police the ballot box with armed agents. Yet that is precisely what the Trump Administration appears to be considering, if not planning,” the senators continued. “The Administration now has a choice. It can continue to fuel the appearance that it is laying the groundwork for an unprecedented federal intrusion into state-run elections, or it can finally provide Congress and the American people with the transparency they deserve.”
The senators requested the following information by August 11, 2026:
- Will any federal law enforcement officers or troops be deployed to or near any polling place or other election sites during the November 2026 election? If so, identify who, where, under what authority, and for what purpose.
- Who directed or authorized discussions concerning the possible deployment of federal law enforcement officers or troops to polling places or other election sites? Identify every meeting or communication concerning this subject involving your Department or agency and the White House, the Executive Office of the President, Stephen Miller, other presidential advisers, or any other federal entity.
- Produce all records concerning the possible deployment of federal law enforcement personnel or troops to polling places or other election sites, including legal memoranda, operational plans, policy guidance, emails, text messages, meeting notes, directives, and communications with the White House or other federal entities.
The senators’ letter comes after President Trump repeatedly threatened to seize control of state-run elections and send federal agents to polling places.
“In May, when President Trump was asked whether he would send the National Guard or ICE to polling places in November, he refused to rule it out, responding: ‘I’d do anything necessary to make sure we have honest elections.’ And earlier this month, President Trump delivered a prime-time address to the nation in which he repeated outlandish falsehoods about the 2020 election, continuing to sow doubts about voting integrity ahead of the mid-terms,” the senators wrote. “President Trump’s statements, coupled with his repeated threats to invoke the Insurrection Act — which authorizes the president to deploy military forces inside the United States to suppress rebellion or domestic violence — only heighten concerns.”
In addition to Sens. Cantwell and Markey, the letter was signed by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Gary Peters (D-MI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Raphael Warnock (D-GA).
The full text of the letter can be found HERE.
Sen. Cantwell has been a stalwart defender against overreach of the Trump administration into our elections:
- On July 28, Sen. Cantwell sharply criticized the Trump administration’s request that the Supreme Court allow him to seize control of state-run elections and implement an anti-vote-by-mail executive order. Lower courts have repeatedly rejected the president’s arguments and stated that his executive order is unconstitutional.
- On July 2, Sen. Cantwell sent a letter to the Postmaster General about the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) proposed illegal rule to implement President Trump’s March 31 executive order to interfere with vote-by-mail. Sen. Cantwell’s letter specifically noted the recent decisions of multiple federal courts that found Trump’s executive order unconstitutional and enjoined the USPS from implementing the proposed rule – including in separate cases brought by the State of Washington with other states and the NAACP – and demanded the USPS comply with those court orders.
- On June 29, she celebrated the Supreme Court’s ruling in Watson v. Republican National Committee against an effort to stop states from counting mail-in ballots that are received after Election Day, even if they’ve been postmarked in time. The case, brought by the Republican National Committee, threatened the election administration practices of states like Washington.
- On June 24, Sen. Cantwell co-sponsored the Right To Vote Act, legislation to create the first-ever affirmative federal voting rights guarantee for all eligible citizens.
- On June 24, she also denounced President Trump’s announcement that he would not sign the 21st Century Road to Housing Act – an overwhelmingly popular, bipartisan bill that passed both the House and Senate earlier in the week and would have increased housing supply and brought down housing costs – until Congress passes the SAVE America Act. That legislation, which Trump has repeatedly demanded, would eliminate vote-by-mail and impose onerous new restrictions on voting and registering to vote. It would disenfranchise millions of Americans in the name of a voter fraud “crisis” that, even by the standards of the right-wing Heritage Foundation, straightforwardly does not exist. President Trump again demanded Congress pass the restrictive bill following straightforwardly does not exist. President Trump again demanded Congress pass the restrictive bill following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Watson v. Republican National Committee. Despite President Trump’s refusal to sign the bipartisan housing bill, it became law on July 11, since he failed to act on the bill within the time period prescribed by the Constitution after Congress sent him the legislation.
- On June 23, she joined the entire Democratic Caucus in sending a letter to the United States Postal Service (USPS) demanding the USPS abandon attempts to restrict voting by mail called for by President Trump in an illegal and unconstitutional March 31 executive order attacking mail and absentee ballots.
- On June 23, she also delivered a speech on the Senate floor calling out the Trump Administration’s war on mail-in voting as the latest frontier in a long history of voter disenfranchisement in the United States.
- On June 17, she joined several of her Senate Democratic colleagues for a spotlight forum highlighting President Donald Trump’s illegal overreach into our free and fair elections.
- On June 8, she joined 23 of her Senate colleagues in demanding answers over the Trump Administration’s decision to remove the most recent version of the Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses manual from the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) website without explanation.
- On April 29, she was tapped by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to join a task force of senators defending our elections from interference.
- On April 23, she joined colleagues in introducing the Absentee and Mail Voter Protection Act to protect the right to vote by mail and block President Trump’s illegal and unconstitutional March 31 executive order attacking mail and absentee ballots.
- On April 22, she sent a letter to the USPS warning the agency against complying with the executive order, which would undermine mail-in voting.
- On April 1, after the executive order on mail-in voting was announced, she issued a statement in opposition.
- On March 18, she convened a group of current and former elected officials and representatives of nonpartisan voter advocacy groups for a virtual press conference on defending voter access. Video of that entire virtual press conference is HERE; video of Sen. Cantwell’s statement is HERE; and a transcript of Sen. Cantwell’s statement is HERE.
- On March 15, she issued a snapshot report showing that the SAVE America Act – the voter suppression bill President Trump has continued to demand Congress pass – would cost Washington state taxpayers more than $35 million this year alone.
- On Feb. 24, Sen. Cantwell invited Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs as her guest to President Trump’s State of the Union address to draw attention to the issue.
- On Feb. 20, she convened local leaders in Seattle for a press conference urging Washingtonians to fight back against these proposed new burdens to voting.
- On Feb. 19, she gathered in Vancouver with the Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey and local chapter heads of the League of Women Voters and the NAACP for a press conference on how this bill would disenfranchise voters.
- Also on Feb. 19, she released a snapshot report showing who in Washington would face undue hurdles to voting if the SAVE America Act were signed into law. The report shows that certain populations – including people who live in rural areas, women who changed their name after marriage, and people who recently moved – would face additional, cumbersome burdens to prove their citizenship.
- On Feb. 5, she appeared on MSNOW’s Morning Joe to push back against the Trump administration’s heightened efforts to interfere in state-run elections and collect private data on American voters. Video of Sen. Cantwell’s appearance is HERE; a transcript is HERE.
- On Jan. 29, Sen. Cantwell joined Senate colleagues in a letter to then-Attorney General Pam Bondi, pushing DOJ to stop its unlawful pressure campaign to coerce dozens of states into providing the Trump Administration their voter rolls, which include voters’ personally identifiable information. DOJ has sued 24 states – including Washington state – and the District of Columbia demanding the personal information of their voters.
- On Jan. 15, she joined Senate colleagues in a letter to USPS Postmaster General David Steiner raising concerns with recent developments affecting postmark practices. Right before the holiday season, USPS changed its postmark practices, which could have significant impacts on voters nationwide and in Washington state – including rural voters, military and overseas voters, and many others who rely on rely on the mail to safely and securely cast their ballot.
- On Jan. 9, she joined 13 Senate colleagues in filing an amicus brief before the Supreme Court in the case Watson v. Republican National Committee. The case, brought by the Republican National Committee, threatened the election administration practices of states like Washington that permit mail ballots that are postmarked by Election Day to be counted when they are received within a certain number of days after Election Day.