1. United States
2. Mass.
3. Letter

Free and fair elections require more than good intentions. They require clear rules, credible enforcement, and the political courage to stop intimidation before it happens. Federal law already prohibits troops and armed federal personnel from interfering at polling places or intimidating voters. But those protections are only meaningful if someone is willing to enforce them. That is the problem states must confront now. Recent comments from Trump administration officials have only heightened concern. Instead of clearly ruling out the use of ICE at polling places in the 2026 midterms, officials have dodged the question, floated false claims about federal authority over election administration, and treated voter intimidation concerns as if they were a joke. States cannot afford to wait for a crisis on Election Day. Nor can they assume that a hostile Justice Department will protect voters if federal agents are deployed to intimidate communities, interfere with election workers, or chill lawful participation. If enforcement depends entirely on federal prosecutors, then the law can be neutralized in practice by inaction, delay, or political loyalty. A presidential pardon can also wipe away federal consequences after the fact. States need their own enforcement tools now. The Brennan Center has proposed a straightforward and legally disciplined answer: states should enact laws that mirror existing federal prohibitions on armed interference at polling places, intimidation by military or federal personnel, and the misuse of official authority to affect elections. By closely tracking existing federal law, states can strengthen protection for voters while avoiding the argument that they are inventing a conflicting legal regime. They would simply be giving state authorities the power to enforce conduct that is already illegal. This approach should include concurrent enforcement authority for the state attorney general, so local prosecutors are not the only option. It should also include civil enforcement, allowing aggrieved voters, election officials, and the state to seek injunctive relief before intimidation suppresses turnout or disrupts election administration. That matters because once fear has been injected into a polling place, the damage cannot be fully undone after the election. This is not a partisan request. No voter should face armed intimidation when trying to cast a ballot. No election worker should have to guess whether federal agents will appear at a polling place under some invented theory of authority. No state should leave the protection of its own elections to the discretion of an executive branch that refuses to answer basic questions about its intentions. I urge you to introduce and pass a state law, before the 2026 election, that bars armed federal interference at polling places, creates state criminal penalties for that conduct, authorizes civil enforcement and injunctive relief, and makes unmistakably clear that elections in this state will be run by law, not fear.