What will Maryland do if federal agents show up at the polls?

The Trump administration won’t rule out sending federal agents to the polls this election season, dismissing the question as nonsense, but Maryland officials are taking the possibility seriously.

Gov. Wes Moore, Maryland’s elections administrator and a host of local officials say they’re preparing for worst-case scenarios amid uncertainty. They’re setting up hotlines and asking state residents to report voter intimidation or election misinformation.

Election officials and advocates have raised concerns that a federal law enforcement presence at the polls — unprecedented in modern elections — could scare off eligible voters, particularly Black and Latino voters.

Federal law bars armed agents or troops from polling places except when necessary to “repel armed enemies of the United States.” But tabletop hypotheticals were added to state election planning after President Donald Trump and other Republicans refused to give a flat-out no when asked if military troops or federal agents could be deployed to polling places. It’s still unclear where Maryland officials will draw the line when it comes to enforcement.

Maryland has been “battleboarding” a variety of scenarios, Moore said on a September podcast. Should federal agents show up at voting places, “we will enforce the law,” the Democratic governor said.

In the podcast interview, Moore declined to expand on what the state was planning. His spokesperson did not respond to a request to clarify the governor’s statement.

Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown’s office said it’s working closely with election officials to “ensure every Maryland voter can vote safely.”

“The right to vote is fundamental to our democracy, and Maryland voters should be able to cast their ballots without fear or interference,” said Kelsey Hartman, spokesperson for the Democratic attorney general.

In May, Trump said he would “do anything necessary to make sure we have honest elections.” Months later, Federal Bureau of Investigation Executive Director Kash Patel and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement, left open the possibility of federal agents appearing at polls to ensure only legal votes are cast.

Trump has argued troves of noncitizens have voted in elections; a Reuters investigation found that 129 noncitizens were criminally charged for voting in the past three decades.

A U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson who refused to provide their name wrote in an email that ICE was not planning operations targeting polling locations but had not ruled them out.

Gen. Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told lawmakers in August he had no plans to deploy military troops to polls.

The FBI did not respond to a request for comment, but the U.S. Justice Department has announced plans to send more election observers to polls. Monitors, a routine part of U.S. elections, watch people vote and take notes from a designated spot in the polling station. They are not allowed to talk to voters or interrupt voting.

The Justice Department told state election officials it is sending monitors to Prince George’s County. Federal monitors have previously been dispatched there to ensure the county was meeting Spanish-language requirements.

Since early voting started last week, there have been no reports of federal law enforcement patrolling the community centers, libraries and volunteer fire stations that typically serve as Maryland’s polling places.

“The goal is to disenfranchise and sow doubt as to these election results,” said Maryland Elections Administrator Jared DeMarinis about the uncertainty around federal interference.

DeMarinis is responsible for running Maryland’s elections. He said he’s hoping for “a nice, boring election,” but his team has gamed out responses across agencies.

DeMarinis said he’s had conversations with the Maryland Department of Emergency Management, the Office of the Attorney General and the Office of the State Prosecutor. He’s also reached out to the Maryland National Guard to clarify its role.

Federal agents and National Guard members have “no legitimate business being inside a polling location,” DeMarinis said. Poll workers have been trained to report disturbances to their county election director or to the state board of elections.

DeMarinis said every election is “unique,” but this one has been rife with voter apprehension and heightened scrutiny over election procedures.

He advised voters not to “let this noise or these distractions take away your right to vote.”

Local officials and law enforcement prepared to respond

Alysoun McLaughlin is the director of the Election Resilience Lab at the University of Maryland’s Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement. As the former interim director of Montgomery County elections, she’s an expert on how Montgomery County has run elections and responded to emergencies.

Leading up to Election Day, election officials are establishing communication with local law enforcement, she said. Officials are generally told to call 911 for any immediate threat to elections within the polling station’s perimeter, she said.

“If an issue arises, MCPD will work with the Board of Elections to determine the appropriate response,” Montgomery County Police spokesperson Shiera Goff said.

Baltimore Police spokesperson Lindsey Eldridge said the department is in contact with local election officials and “will continue to support ballot drop-offs, deliveries, and pickups as usual at various locations throughout the city.”

Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman said his county is prepared.

“There’s no question that our police department is equipped to handle this election,” the Democrat said in an interview. Law enforcement, he said, will be available to support election officials without being present in ways that could deter voters.

“Everybody’s preparing for the worst,” Pittman said. “That’s what we do in law enforcement.”

“It’s better to be prepared for the worst and then have it be a very uneventful election,” said Joanne Antoine, the executive director for Common Cause Maryland, a nonpartisan democracy watchdog group. She said her group has held tabletop planning exercises with its national organization and provided extra training to its roughly 250 volunteer Maryland poll monitors.

“We’ve added more scenario planning and sections on de-escalation,” Antoine said. She declined to share specifics.

How should voters respond?

Anyone who sees federal agents at the polls should report it to Common Cause’s hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683), Antoine said. Voters can call in or text reports of any voting impediment.

Federal law protects citizens’ right to vote free from intimidation and government interference.

Antoine warned voters to be wary of misinformation too. She said AI-generated images could spread false rumors and urged people to report suspected inaccurate claims to Common Cause or the state elections board for fact-checking.