The Arlington County Board is suing the Trump administration over worries about potential interference at polling places during the midterm elections.
The federal lawsuit filed yesterday (Tuesday) centers on recent statements from leaders at the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, which the County Board alleges threaten voter safety and have caused county leaders to divert significant resources to plan for potential conflicts with federal agents.
The lawsuit cites a Fox News interview with White House border czar Tom Homan, in which he said that “there’s no plan to sweep polling places looking for illegal aliens” but that “we’ll go where we gotta go to apprehend these people.” It also refers to testimony from FBI Director Kash Patel that appeared to suggest an openness to sending federal agents to polling places.
Federal law prohibits the deployment of armed federal agents at the polls except in cases of “armed enemies of the United States.” The County Board is asking the court to strike down what it calls “unlawful policies” on the part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the FBI.
“Threatening to send armed agents to polling stations is unlawful and contravenes the bedrock values of free and fair elections we hold dear in this country,” County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti said in a press release. “These statements are a clear attempt to stoke fear and undermine confidence in our elections. The Arlington County Board will do all we can to protect our voters and their right to vote.”
Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-3) voiced support for the lawsuit in a statement today. He referred to legislation that he introduced which would have limited immigration officers’ ability to conduct enforcement actions near polling places.
“Ultimately, that bill, and the underlying policy, was not signed into law, but the problem it addressed has only intensified,” Lopez said. “I am thankful that the Arlington County Board is taking legal action to ensure safe and protected elections, and the right of Virginians to freely cast their ballot.”
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, refers to resources that the County Board says it has spent in response to the Trump administration’s statements about the upcoming election. It describes a recent “tabletop exercise” in which leaders from the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, Arlington County Police Department, County Attorney’s Office and Virginia Attorney General’s Office planned for “anticipated federal overreach” during the Nov. 3 election.
“The topics addressed at the meeting included procedures for responding to armed federal law enforcement appearing at polling places, including communication protocols, whether the ACPD should conduct arrests, conditions for emergency relocation of polling places due to federal agents preventing voters from casting ballots, response to potential civil unrest, and the circumstances under which the County Attorney would need to seek civil injunctive relief,” the lawsuit says.
It also mentions a town hall on voting rights and safety that Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti hosted last month, and describes recent trainings for ACPD officers on “communication and deconfliction methods to avoid tension with federal officers.”
“We have had to take unprecedented measures to ensure a safe and fair voting process in our community,” Dehghani-Tafti said in a press release today. “We want every eligible voter to know they can vote without fear or interference — that we are here to protect them as they exercise their sacred civic duty.”
Although the upcoming midterms involve numerous contested races around the country and will determine the balance of power in Congress, neither of the two federal seats on the ballot in Arlington is seen as particularly competitive. Senator Mark Warner (D) and U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D) are seeking to defend positions that they have held for quite a few years in a heavily Democratic area.
However, the County Board said that local officials have been on edge due to Arlington’s proximity to D.C. and recent high-profile immigration actions in Northern Virginia.
“Arlington has a fundamental legal duty to protect public safety and to administer peaceful, secure, and efficient elections,” plaintiffs wrote.
The County Board’s lawsuit follows a similar filing from the city of Denver last month.
Arlington County is also engaged in another piece of litigation against the Trump administration. Earlier this month, the County Board sued to stop construction of President Donald Trump’s planned 250-foot arch in Memorial Circle.
County leaders are also in the midst of a dispute with the House Judiciary Committee, which issued a report last month slamming policies at ACPD, Arlington County Sheriff’s Office and the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office that make it harder for immigration enforcement to detain suspects in criminal cases.
