> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://foxwatershed.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Wisconsin Election Officials Draft Rules for Federal Agents at the Polls Three Weeks Out - URL: https://foxwatershed.com/wisconsin-elections-commission-federal-agents-polls-guidance/ - Published: 2026-10-13T22:33:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-02T23:35:15.000Z - Description: The Wisconsin Elections Commission will vote Thursday on guidance telling clerks how to handle ICE, FBI or other officers at polling places, after months of mixed signals from the Trump administration. - Author: Fox Watershed Staff - Tags: Wisconsin Politics, The Midterm Monitor, Trump Administration The Wisconsin Elections Commission released draft guidance Tuesday telling the state's roughly 1,800 local clerks what to do if Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, Department of Homeland Security officials, FBI agents or local police show up at a polling place on Nov. 3, [the Associated Press reported](https://www.wbay.com/2026/10/13/wisconsin-elections-officials-prepare-federal-officers-polls/?ref=foxwatershed.com). Commissioners are scheduled to vote on the memo at a meeting Thursday. The guidance lands less than three weeks before an election topped by a hotly contested governor's race, and after months in which Trump administration officials declined to rule out sending federal personnel to voting sites. Some clerks had complained publicly that the commission left them to plan for that scenario on their own. Meagan Wolfe, the state's chief elections official, said at a news conference that clerks are well trained in dealing with law enforcement at the polls. "I'm not expecting any problems at our polling places," she said. ## What the law already says Federal law is blunt on the central question. [18 U.S.C. § 592](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/592?ref=foxwatershed.com) makes it a crime for a federal officer to bring or keep "troops or armed men" at a polling place during an election, except to repel armed enemies of the United States. A violation carries up to five years in prison and disqualification from federal office. A [separate statute, § 594](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/594?ref=foxwatershed.com), sets up to a year in prison for intimidating anyone to interfere with their vote. Wisconsin law puts the polling place under the control of its election inspectors. A [2026 law enforcement quick-reference guide](https://safeelections.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/CSSE-WI-Pocket-Guide-2026-1.pdf?ref=foxwatershed.com) summarizing state election law notes that inspectors hold full authority to maintain order under § 7.37 and can direct an officer to remove anyone who refuses lawful commands or disrupts voting. Attorney General Josh Kaul's Department of Justice sent out a [reminder on Oct. 1](https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/WIDOJ/bulletins/42d6990?ref=foxwatershed.com) listing conduct it considers unlawful intimidation at or near the polls, including brandishing firearms, appearing to patrol a voting line while armed, following voters and recording their license plates. The release also restated the federal ban on armed personnel at active polling places and noted that whether a given act is criminal depends on the facts. ## Mixed signals from Washington Federal officials have given conflicting answers all year. In February, Heather Honey, DHS's deputy assistant secretary for election integrity, told state election officials on a call that "there will be no ICE presence at polling locations for this election," according to [five participants who described the call to Votebeat](https://www.votebeat.org/2026/02/26/ice-agents-polling-places-2026-midterm-elections-heather-honey-election-official-meeting/?ref=foxwatershed.com). Weeks earlier, then-press secretary Karoline Leavitt said she couldn't guarantee an ICE agent wouldn't be near a polling place in November, [WBAY reported](https://www.wbay.com/2026/09/21/wisconsin-election-clerks-prep-possibility-armed-federal-agents-polls/?ref=foxwatershed.com). In September, FBI Director Kash Patel [declined to rule out sending agents](https://www.votebeat.org/wisconsin/2026/10/07/should-you-expect-ice-at-the-polls-november-midterm-election/?ref=foxwatershed.com) to voting sites, and the Justice Department has said it will keep sending its own staff to polling places as election monitors. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said ICE agents could be at a polling place to serve an immigration warrant, [Axios reported](https://www.axios.com/2026/09/17/states-ice-polls-2026-election?ref=foxwatershed.com). A DHS spokesperson told the outlet the agency isn't planning operations aimed at polling locations but that an arrest could happen at one if there were an active public safety threat. Public records haven't settled the matter. Democracy Forward sued ICE after a records request about poll deployments went largely unanswered, and the 166 pages the agency released this month black out its prepared answer on whether it would arrest people at polling places, [Democracy Docket reported](https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/ice-at-the-polls-even-after-foia-lawsuit-agency-refuses-to-give-a-straight-answer/?ref=foxwatershed.com). Nine groups have separately sued DHS and other agencies seeking an injunction, a case Votebeat describes as still in its early stages. A University of San Diego poll in September found 40% of Americans think ICE agents are likely to show up at the polls, Votebeat also reported. ## Clerks asked for direction The pressure for state guidance came loudest from Dane County. At a Sept. 21 roundtable in Madison with U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell said his office keeps federal criminal defense attorneys on retainer in case it has to rush to federal court for an order, and he faulted the commission for issuing guidance on Postal Service problems but nothing on federal agents, [the Wisconsin Examiner reported](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/node/428626?ref=foxwatershed.com). Sun Prairie City Clerk Elena Hilby said poll workers should ask any agent why they're there and whether they have a warrant, then call her. Two days later, McDonell [told FOX 47](https://fox47.com/news/local/dane-co-clerk-criticizes-silence-in-face-of-threats-to-have-federal-agents-at-polls?ref=foxwatershed.com) that local law enforcement agencies had asked for guidance and gotten few answers, citing "complete silence from the election commission." Commission spokesperson Emilee Miklas told the station the agency hoped to have guidance in the future. Tuesday's memo is that guidance, in draft form. Northeast Wisconsin has already had its own version of the argument. Minutes after polls opened for the August primary, the Sheboygan County Sheriff's Office posted on Facebook that deputies would stop at polling places periodically through the day to provide a visible law enforcement presence. The ACLU of Wisconsin, Campaign Legal Center and Law Forward [wrote to Sheriff Matthew Spence](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/node/423398?ref=foxwatershed.com) that armed officers at the polls are likely to intimidate voters, noting that state law requires officers to be stationed at polling places only in cities over 500,000 people, which in Wisconsin means Milwaukee. Spence said deputies have stopped at polling sites for years during routine patrols, usually for 5 to 10 minutes, to check in with clerks and poll workers. County Clerk Jon Dolson said the practice predates his 14 years in office and that this was the first time anyone had posted about it on social media.