Charles’ Appeal to Homan
At a gathering in Arundel on 20 August, Bobby Charles, the Republican nominee for governor of Maine, told supporters he would approach Tom Homan, the White House border czar, with a request to station ICE officers and U.S. Marshals at voting sites. He said he would make the appeal three or four weeks before Election Day, possibly three weeks out. Charles framed the move as a way to prevent illegal voting, insisting that anyone legally entitled to cast a ballot should do so without intimidation, while those not entitled should not be allowed to vote.
“Here’s my secret,” Charles told members of a Maine Young Republicans chapter. “I have a friend named Tom Homan. Tom and I used to get on Fox all the time together. Tom’s an awesome guy.” He later added, “I’m going to ask Tom, I’m going to actually — three or four weeks before the election, maybe three — I’m going to make an appeal for ICE and Marshals to be at our voting booths.”
State and Federal Officials Push Back
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, countered that federal immigration agents are barred by law from appearing at polling places and assured residents that the November election would be free and secure. She characterised Charles’s remarks as mere political rhetoric that would not alter constitutional or statutory requirements.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told the Associated Press, “Elections exist for the American people, not illegal aliens, to choose their leaders.” The agency has previously stated it has no plans to deploy ICE agents to polls, a position reiterated during congressional testimony where ICE and Customs and Border Protection heads both answered “No, sir” when asked about involvement in guarding voting precincts.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, during his March confirmation hearing, downplayed fears of voter intimidation but conceded that agents could appear if a specific threat arose. He testified, “I don’t understand what the concern is about enforcement of immigration at polling places anyways, because honestly if you’re not a citizen you shouldn’t be voting anyways,” and added, “So technically, there shouldn’t be illegals at the polling spot. The only reason why my officers would be there is if there was a specific threat for them to be there, not for intimidation.”
Partisan Reaction and Legal Warnings
Democratic leaders in Maine denounced the proposal as likely illegal and an attempt to intimidate voters. Devon Murphy-Anderson, executive director of the Maine Democratic Party, labelled Charles a “MAGA extremist” and said, “His plan to ask Trump’s border czar to send ICE agents to Maine polling places just weeks before Election Day is not only deeply alarming — it is likely illegal. This is a blatant attempt to intimidate voters and yet another reason Bobby Charles is too extreme for Maine.”
The party also noted the timing of the comments, coming as the state continues to grapple with the summer killing of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a Biddeford resident shot by an ICE officer. Charles, an attorney who served as U.S. assistant secretary of state under George W. Bush, won the Republican primary in June and will face Democratic candidate Hannah Pingree, former speaker of the Maine House, in the November contest. Incumbent Governor Janet Mills, a Democrat, is term‑limited.
Why it Matters
The call to place federal immigration agents at Maine’s polling stations raises serious questions about the integrity of the electoral process and the potential for voter suppression. If such a deployment were to occur, it could clash with federal statutes that prohibit the military and armed officers from being stationed near voting sites, prompting legal challenges and eroding public trust. The episode underscores how national rhetoric about election security is being translated into state‑level tactics that could affect voter turnout, particularly among minority communities, and may set a precedent for similar requests in other battleground states ahead of the 2026 midterms.
