Federal agents have been spotted outside polling locations in two Florida counties this week during early voting, a presence that local election officials say is intimidating and illegal.
Mark Earley, the supervisor of elections in Leon County, said Monday that two Customs and Border Protection vehicles were parked outside the county’s busiest early voting site in Tallahassee for about 10 minutes.
“I have lodged a formal complaint with the FBI, and to their credit, they are taking this seriously,” Earley said in a statement. “Voters should never experience intimidation from anyone when they are voting, and that includes being intimidated by law enforcement or any other governmental officials.”
In Monroe County, masked federal agents were seen conducting an arrest at an intersection near a polling place. Florida’s Local 10 news reported that the location was clearly near an early voting site in Key Largo, with signs that read “Go Vote” and “Vote Here” around the area.
Trending
The county’s supervisor of elections, Sherri Hodies, says it violates the law.
“I’m not happy about it. Frankly, I was stunned about it,” Hodie told Local 10 News. “It’s hard to take these phone calls from voters who are frightened. Their voices are shaking.”
Hodie added that she reached out to Customs and Border Protection after the arrest and informed them of all the early voting sites in the county, urging them to conduct business a distance away from those places.
Federal law prohibits federal agents from being present at polling places. But the lead-up to this year’s midterm elections has been rife with concerns from lawmakers and election officials about whether the Trump administration will follow that law or find ways around it.
At Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s confirmation hearing in March, Mullin refused to rule out that agents would stay away from the sites entirely.
“The only reason why my officers would be there is if there was a specific threat for them to be there, not for intimidation,” he said.
Author
