U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will not be deployed at polling places during the midterm elections later this year, state election security administrators were told during a call with federal officials Wednesday, according to multiple sources familiar with the call.
Responding to the California secretary of state during the call, Heather Honey, deputy assistant secretary for Elections Integrity at the Department of Homeland Security, called the suggestion that ICE would be present at polling places «disinformation,» according to one person briefed on the call.
In a statement following the call, a DHS official said in a statement: «ICE is not planning operations targeting polling locations. 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.»
Sources described the first part of the call as routine, with state officials hearing from the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service about security for the midterms.
ICE agents depart the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Feb. 4, 2026, in Minneapolis.
John Moore/Getty Images
Honey, who spread false information about the 2020 election before being appointed to her DHS position last year, also addressed the state officials, which included many secretaries of state.
A source said Honey pushed for officials to adopt a database run by DHS called SAVE and also said that hand counts were the best way to certify the results of the election — something many secretaries of state panned on the call.
SAVE is an online service for registered federal, state, territorial, tribal, and local government agencies to verify immigration status and U.S. citizenship of applicants seeking benefits or licenses, according to DHS. The system is used by agencies that provide health care benefits, Social Security benefits and state driver’s licenses, among other uses, according to DHS.
Heather Honey, a conservative election researcher, leaves the federal courthouse in Harrisburg, Pa., Oct. 18, 2024.
Mark Scolforo/AP, FILE
Honey did not say what the department does with the data, according to sources.
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Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, told reporters she did not walk away feeling «reassured» the federal government would protect the state sovereignty over the election.
«When we asked about state sovereignty and could the federal government make public statements reinforcing the constitutional principle that the states, not the federal government, were in charge of elections, there was a stunned silence,» Bellows told reporters.
Arizona Secretary of States Adrian Fontes said in a statement after the call: «The vast majority of election, law enforcement, and investigative professionals in these agencies are working hard to maintain secure and accountable American elections. It was deeply unsettling the DOJ and DHS refused to acknowledge that, according to the U.S. Constitution, states run elections in America.»
Voters wait in line at a polling station, Nov. 5, 2024, in Orlando, Fla.
Paul Hennessy/Anadolu via Getty Images
President Donald Trump has suggested the federal government «get involved» in running elections, although the Constitution gives states the authority to run and administer federal elections, subject to laws passed by Congress.
Trump has also pushed the SAVE America Act — a measure passed by the House — that would require states to obtain proof of citizenship before registering a person to vote for a federal election.
