AUGUSTA, MAINE – Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows announced today that Maine, along with eight other states, has sent a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Nominee Markwayne Mullin seeking confirmation that ICE agents would not be deployed to polling locations during the 2026 election cycle.
Heather Honey, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Elections Integrity in the Office of Strategy, Policy & Plans at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), told Secretaries of State on February 25, 2026, that, “Any mention of ICE at a polling location is simply misinformation. ICE will not be at any polling location during this election cycle.”
On March 3, 2026, former Secretary Kristi Noem repeated a similar statement when appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, saying, “There are no plans to have ICE officers at our polling locations.”
The letter from Secretaries of State asks for written confirmation that the official position of the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary-Nominee Mullin is that ICE will not have a presence at polling locations during the 2026 election cycle.
Letter signatories include:
- Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold
- Connecticut Secretary of State Stephanie Thomas
- Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias
- Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows
- Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon
- New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver
- Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read
- Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore
- Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs
“That we even have to ask for written assurances that the federal government won’t deploy armed agents to the polls is a sad and frightening sign of the times we’re in,” said Secretary Bellows. “The Constitution and laws could not be more clear that armed federal agents are prohibited in polling places, but then it would also not be the first unlawful attempt by the administration to interfere with the states’ rights and ability to administer elections.”
###