Denver, Colorado, and three voting rights organizations are suing the Trump administration in an effort to prevent armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers from being stationed at or patrolling polling places during the 2026 midterm elections.
The lawsuit, filed in federal district court in Washington, D.C., argues that deploying armed federal agents to polling locations would violate a federal law barring military or other armed forces from being present at places where federal elections are being held, except in circumstances where “force be necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States.”
The groups argue that the presence of armed immigration agents could intimidate voters and undermine confidence in the election.
“It places voters in fear that they will be confronted by armed federal law enforcement if they choose to cast a ballot,” the lawsuit states.
The suit names the Department of Homeland Security and ICE, as well as Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and ICE acting Director David Venturella, as defendants. The left-wing legal group Democracy Forward filed the lawsuit on behalf of the League of United Latin American Citizens, Common Cause, UnidosUS, and the city of Denver.
The lawsuit comes as Democrats raise concerns about whether the Trump administration could deploy federal law enforcement or military personnel to patrol polling places. Meanwhile, some conservative figures, including former White House adviser Steve Bannon, have called for ICE to surround polling locations.
Trump administration officials, however, have said ICE does not plan to patrol polling places.
Mullin said last month that “ICE isn’t there to patrol the polling places,” while leaving open the possibility that agents could respond to a specific threat or execute an immigration warrant at a polling location.
“If we’re serving a warrant, we will be where we need to be,” Mullin said.
The administration has also said the military will not be deployed to polling locations.
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Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in an August letter to Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) that the military has no plans to send federal troops or federalized National Guard personnel to polling places during the 2026 elections. He also said there were no plans to use military personnel to seize ballots, voting machines, or other election-related materials.
“The Joint Force has no plans to send Federal military personnel or Federalized members of the National Guard to polling places during the 2026 elections,” Caine wrote.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
