Federal lawmakers from Connecticut want to ban Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers from interfering with voting.
U.S. Rep. John Larson (D-CT-1) is introducing the bill, with support from the state’s federal delegation.
It comes after the White House said there are no “formal plans” to deploy ICE at the polls, but that they wouldn’t rule out the idea entirely. President Donald Trump (R) has repeatedly falsely claimed the country is plagued by widespread voter fraud and says the election process should be federalized.
“Since when do we need the military at our town halls, at our libraries and at our elementary schools? People have the right to vote,” Larson said. “What they're trying to do is intimidate people from coming to vote by having armed personnel at our polling places.”
It’s already illegal for the president to deploy the military at an election site. Larson said the legislation would make it clear that ICE shouldn’t be at polling places, either.
“Many would say, well, that already exists, but it's not clear,” Larson said. “It's not clear from the standpoint that it doesn't say and specify ICE or this newly created personal army of Donald Trump.”
Larson admitted the bill faces an uphill battle in Congress. It’s unlikely to be called for a vote by Republican leaders, who control what makes it to the House and Senate floor.
The veteran congressman was joined by Connecticut state lawmakers at the Capitol building in Hartford on Friday to announce the legislation.
State Representative Matt Blumenthal (D-Stamford), who co-chairs the Government Administration and Elections Committee, said he was focused on new measures to secure elections this session.
“We're pursuing legislation to ensure that our elections here are not manipulated or improperly interfered with by deep fakes or in synthetic material, especially those created by increasingly powerful artificial intelligence,” Blumenthal said. “And … we are pursuing legislation to finally implement in the state of Connecticut absentee voting for all.”
Voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing absentee voting in 2024. The General Assembly still has to pass a bill to implement it.
