Complaint invokes Civil War-era ‘troops at polls’ statute against federal officers
The city of Denver and a coalition of advocacy groups filed the lawsuit in federal court on Thursday, naming the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Markwayne Mullin as defendants. The complaint seeks to bar U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers from being deployed to polling sites during elections.
Joining Denver as plaintiffs are the immigrant rights organizations League of United Latin American Citizens, Common Cause, and UnidosUS.
According to the lawsuit, it is illegal for federal officers to detain people and serve warrants at voting sites. The complaint invokes the so-called “troops at polls” law, a federal statute enacted during the Civil War that provides for fines and possible prison time for federal agents who show up “at any place where a general or special election is held, unless such force be necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States.”
Attorneys for the plaintiffs wrote in the complaint that “the specter of armed officers at polling places threatens the freedom of this upcoming election.” They added: “It places voters in fear that they will be confronted by armed federal immigration enforcement officers if they choose to cast a ballot.”
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said in a statement that “the right to vote, and to do so without fear of intimidation, is fundamental to our democracy and to being an American.” He added: “Stationing ICE agents near polling places is only meant to scare people and suppress votes. We’ll fight tooth and nail to prevent it.”
The Trump administration has denied plans for ICE deployments at polling places but has not ruled out agents being present under some circumstances.
Mullin said last week that ICE officers would only be sent to polling places “if there is a threat to that polling place or we’re serving a warrant on someone that we have been actively tracking down.”