News Article
Published
Oct 22, 2026 at 07:36 AM EDT
Two U.S. Border Patrol (CBP) vehicles briefly parked outside an early voting site in Leon County, Florida, prompting the county’s elections supervisor to file a formal complaint with the FBI, a local official said.
The vehicles arrived outside the county’s busiest early voting site of Northeast Branch Library in Tallahassee about 10:15 a.m. on Monday, shortly after early voting began, according to Leon County Supervisor of Elections Mark S. Earley.
"The two vehicles appeared to stay for approximately 10 minutes before leaving the vicinity of the site," Earley said. "It is worth noting that we did not receive any calls from voters regarding the incident.
"Since learning of this, I have been in close communication with our local, state, and federal partners to make sure they are aware of this issue. I have lodged a formal complaint with the FBI, and to their credit, they are taking this seriously."
Newsweek contacted CBP, the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and Earley’s office for comment via email outside regular business hours on Thursday.
Federal law prohibits federal officials from deploying armed personnel to polling places, except when needed to repel armed enemies of the United States.
Yet concerns have been raised over the prospect of federal immigration agents, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), being deployed to polling stations during the midterms.
The Trump administration says it has no plan for federal agents to patrol polling places, but President Donald Trump, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and FBI Director Kash Patel have all declined to categorically rule it out.
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Earley said he contacted local, state, and federal officials after learning about the vehicles and filed a formal complaint with the FBI.
"Voters should never experience intimidation from anyone when they are voting, and that includes being intimidated by law enforcement or any other governmental officials," Earley said in a press release.
This is a developing story; more to follow.