AUGUSTA — The Republican nominee for governor recently told supporters he plans to ask the Trump administration to send immigration enforcement agents to Maine polling places in November.
Bobby Charles made the remarks to supporters in Arundel on Aug. 20, according to the Bangor Daily News. Charles, an attorney, lobbyist and former federal official, said he plans to call border czar Tom Homan to ask Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to come to Maine.
“I’m going to ask Tom, three or four weeks before the election, maybe three, I’m going to make an appeal for ICE and marshals to be at our voting booths,” Charles said, according to the audio obtained by the BDN.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, “it is illegal to deploy federal troops or armed federal law enforcement to any polling place.”
The comments from Charles drew condemnation from his opponents, Democrat Hannah Pingree and independent Rick Bennett.
“I find it appalling that a candidate for major political office in today’s world would be suggesting that ICE agents, masked ICE agents be at the polls in Maine intimidating Maine voters,” Bennett said.
He said he believes it is aimed at keeping people of color away from the polls and that ICE “has gone rogue.”
Pingree called it “horrendous” and a sign that Charles is closely aligned with President Donald Trump.
“Obviously it’s very very disappointing,” she said. “I think it is completely out of line and as I understand it, illegal. It is just a sign that this guy is not ready to be governor of Maine. He wants to see more chaos on the street. He wants to intimidate Maine voters.”
The presence of ICE agents in Maine is a particularly sensitive issue following the killing of Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero, 25, of Biddeford. Guerrero was killed by an ICE agent during a traffic stop in July, leading to calls for better vetting of ICE agents and an investigation into the circumstances that led to his death.
Charles Campaign Manager Dale Crafts Jr. said in a statement that he’s concerned about voting integrity because Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, will not turn over state voting rolls to the federal government.
“The point is that Bobby will do everything legally possible to prevent illegal voting in Maine, to make sure that Maine elections are decided by legal Maine voters,” Crafts said. “Especially as this is now a sanctuary state, he will ask all legal assistance from DOJ and Homeland to assure Maine experiences no illegal voting.”
Bennett said Maine elections are fair and well administered.
“I have confidence that our elections are being held fairly and within the law and ICE has no place there,” he said.
One of the Republican concerns in recent years is their belief that noncitizens are casting ballots, but Pingree said that’s long been illegal and there’s no evidence of it happening in Maine.
“We do not have evidence of voter fraud,” she said. “For Bobby Charles to be inviting ICE to the state of Maine is really about intimidating voters. Intimidating legal citizens who have the right to vote to make them feel afraid to leave their homes. I think that is unconscionable.”