Mecklenburg County election officials say they have no confirmed reports that federal law enforcement agents plan to show up at local polling places.
The Mecklenburg County Board of Elections made the statement as early voting continues across the county's 25 sites through Saturday, Oct. 31, as first reported by WFAE. The board said polling sites must remain open and unobstructed. Ballantyne voters can cast early ballots at any of those 25 locations.
"No one is allowed to obstruct, intimidate or interfere with anyone attempting to vote," the board said in its statement.
The statement comes as Democrats and voting rights organizations such as the ACLU have warned that federal agents at polling places could intimidate voters and suppress turnout. The White House has downplayed the possibility, but President Donald Trump has declined to rule it out, according to WFAE.
The federal government has also demanded states' voter rolls and attempted to compare mail-in ballots against citizenship lists to disqualify some voters, WFAE reported.
Community organizations in Charlotte are not waiting for official guarantees. Carolina Migrant Network and Siembra NC have trained volunteers to monitor for possible election interference, including actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or other federal officials, according to WFAE.
Separately, El Pueblo, a Latino advocacy organization, has trained bilingual volunteers at polling sites. Alissa Lopez with El Pueblo told QC News that trained volunteers "document problems and they connect to voters with legal resources and voting resources." Voters who feel intimidated can call a hotline to report it, Lopez said.
The backdrop is a national push by the Justice Department. The DOJ on Monday, Oct. 19, announced charges against 28 individuals in California for alleged unlawful voting and other election-related offenses, ABC News reported. Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said the charges included unlawful voting by noncitizens and false claims of citizenship.
The DOJ previously sent Nevada officials a list of 185 individuals it said were potential noncitizens on that state's voter rolls. Nevada officials determined everyone on the list was a lawful U.S. citizen.
Michael Dickerson, who has led the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections for 28 years, told WFAE in an Oct. 13 interview that he is confident the county's elections will be secure and fair. Voting machines are not connected to the internet, and each machine is tested for accuracy multiple times before an election, Dickerson said.
Early voting turnout is already running well ahead of 2022. Statewide, 501,321 ballots had been cast as of Oct. 18, compared with 362,643 at the same point four years ago, according to WBTV. Mecklenburg County alone accounted for 51,645 of those ballots.
Early voting runs through Oct. 31. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3, with polls open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
