Tammy Baldwin

Sen. Tammy Baldwin introduced a bill to prohibit federal agents like ICE from being present at polling sites.

The bill follows President Trump's comments that he would do "anything necessary" to ensure honest elections.

DHS stated it has no plans for operations at polling locations but did not rule out "targeted enforcement."

While noncitizen voting is illegal and does occur, experts and data suggest it is rare and does not affect election outcomes.

WASHINGTON – Wisconsin's Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin is introducing a bill to bar the federal government from sending U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and the National Guard to polling sites after President Donald Trump didn't rule it out earlier this year.

The bill shared with the Journal Sentinel is the latest proposal representing concerns about election administration and integrity leading up to Nov. 3, although Democrats and Republicans cite different concerns.

Specifically, Baldwin's bill would prohibit the federal government from sending ICE, U.S. Customs and Border Protection or National Guard agents within a quarter of a mile of any election location, setting up checkpoints along any route to a polling location or interfering in any way an eligible voter's ability to access their polling place.

"We saw masked, armed federal agents roving the streets in residential neighborhoods, near daycare centers and schools, healthcare facilities, places of worship – there was discussion ongoing whether there should be places that were safe havens from ICE presence," Baldwin said in an interview with the Journal Sentinel.

"It seemed extremely urgent to me as we approach the midterm elections that we don't see that presences of ICE and Border Patrol and other armed individuals," Baldwin said.

When asked whether he would deploy ICE or the National Guard to polling places during the midterm elections, Trump told reporters he would "do anything necessary" to ensure honest elections.

The U.S. Constitution gives states the responsibility to administer elections, and federal officials are seldom present at election sites. If they are, it's typically in an observation-only capacity with permission from the state or locality. Federal interference in elections is illegal.

"This president has made it clear that he wants to nationalize or federalize our elections. He cannot do that," Baldwin said. "I want voters to have confidence that they can go and participate in the elections ... and there will not be armed federal agents on the premises."

With the dwindling number of days in session and Republican control in Congress, it's unlikely that the measure, called the "Safe Access to the Polls Act," will become law by the end of this year. But Baldwin said she is looking for ways to attach it to large must-pass bills, like those to fund the federal government.

Still, the bill reflects growing worries that the administration's immigration enforcement surges and crackdown-on-crime measures, such as deploying the National Guard, could spread to federal elections. Baldwin said their presence alone would be "very intimidating" for voters.

"Having armed agents bust in to the election facility would be very disruptive on so many different counts," Baldwin said. "And then add it to what Wisconsinites have witnessed in our neighboring state earlier this year," she added, referencing when federal immigration enforcement agents in Minnesota fatally shot U.S. citizens Renée Good and Alex Pretti.

DHS has no plans for ICE at the polls, but doesn't rule out 'targeted enforcement'

A U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said ICE is not planning operations targeting polling locations, but added that ICE conducts "intelligence-driven targeted enforcement, and if an active public safety threat endangered a polling location, they may be arrested as a result of that targeted enforcement action.”

It is illegal for noncitizens to vote in a federal election.

“DHS is laser focused on prosecuting and removing aliens who vote and preventing the dilution of the votes of U.S. citizens," the spokesperson said in an email. “Our message to aliens who vote in American elections is clear: we will find you, arrest you, and you will face the consequences – including criminal charges and deportation."

Republicans writ large say they are concerned about noncitizens voting in federal elections and are pushing for Congress to pass a voter-ID bill to bolster proof of citizenship and ID requirements — a measure that's stalled in the U.S. Senate by a few among their ranks.

Wisconsin law requires an ID to vote but not to register.

Noncitizen voting is seen as rare

There have been cases of noncitizens voting in federal elections, said Avery Davis-Roberts, director of the democracy program at The Carter Center, a nonprofit that provides nonpartisan election observation services worldwide.

In Wisconsin, the most recent report on voter fraud compiled by the Wisconsin Elections Commission found one noncitizen was caught voting in two separate elections in 2020 and 2022.

As part of a probe headed by the DHS investigations arm and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, two people were charged earlier this month with noncitizen voting in 2022.

"It’s not that it doesn’t happen, but it doesn’t happen in large numbers of people that affect election results," she said. "There are lots of ways that states have implemented safeguards to ensure eligible citizens can cast their ballot. It depends on the state, but it is often a part of the voter registration process."

The DHS spokesperson said the department continues to investigate cases of voter fraud and is "committed to restoring integrity to our election systems and ensuring that American citizens and only American citizens are electing American leaders."

Baldwin said a polling place is "probably the least likely place for someone who is undocumented to go," and argued it's not necessary for any 'targeted enforcement' actions to occur at an election site, anyway.

"Their responsibilities can be fulfilled in almost any other place," she said. "There are certain places that should feel safe ... we should not be intimidating people's access to those places."

Will federal officials be at Wisconsin's polling stations?

The U.S. Justice Department said in a statement to the Journal Sentinel that it is hoping to deploy 1,000 federal "election monitors" in all 50 states for the November midterm elections, including locations in Wisconsin.

Davis-Roberts said it's a regular function of DOJ to deploy monitors who are tasked with only observing, not interfering, with the elections to ensure compliance with the landmark election rights law, the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

One thousand monitors nationwide is more than have been deployed in the past, but only a small number of voters will see monitors at their polling places, she added, considering there are 10,000 voting precincts across the U.S.

"Every monitor will go through the same standard election monitor training which was given by DOJ for every election under previous administrations," a DOJ spokesperson said in a statement. "This is consistent with prior practice."

“Our monitoring efforts are nonpartisan, and we hope to have monitors nationwide," the spokesperson added. "This includes both ‘Republican-led’ and ‘Democrat-led’ states."

Valerie Yurk can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X @valerie_yurk.