Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is warning that “the presence of ICE agents or other types of federal agents” could interfere in the 2026 elections, despite zero evidence to support her claims.
Benson, who is overseeing her own election for state governor as the Democratic frontrunner, suggested federal immigration agents who are “terrorizing residents” could show up at polling locations during a forum hosted by the Fannie Lou Hammer PAC in Detroit earlier this month.
Benson told attendees her office will deploy election hotlines and on-the-ground monitoring teams ahead of the August and November elections to identify “any type of physical interference” from ICE agents or other federal immigration officials.
Jocelyn Benson accuses ICE of ‘terrorizing residents’ — Dem frontrunner claims agents could ‘interfere’ at polling places https://t.co/WUhMspYaBf
— The Midwesterner (@Th_Midwesterner) February 24, 2026
“With the ICE agents coming and federal agents really terrorizing residents, not just here in Michigan, but across the nation, we’re even more vigilant,” Benson said at the Feb. 10 event.
Benson did not point to any confirmed incidents of federal law enforcement attempting to disrupt polling places in Michigan, or elsewhere, while a review of publicly available reports found no documented cases of ICE interfering with elections.
Federal law prohibits voter intimidation, and Michigan elections operate under established procedures governing poll workers, challengers, and law enforcement presence at voting locations. Unauthorized interference, by any individual or agency, is unlawful.
Benson’s remarks come as Democratic Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is encouraging residents to report federal immigration enforcement activity.
Earlier this month, Nessel unveiled a new online reporting tool that allows Michiganders to submit photos, videos, and descriptions of ICE operations. The form permits anonymous submissions and is intended, according to the attorney general’s office, to document potential misconduct.
While Nessel is focused broadly on immigration enforcement activity, Benson’s comments about federal agents at polling places continues her campaign to paint Republican efforts to improve election integrity as a plot to “dismantle people’s faith” in the system.
In Detroit, Benson claimed she’s working to defend residents’ constitutional rights.
“No one gets to take away our right to vote. No one gets to intimidate us into thinking that our votes don’t count and our voices don’t matter,” she said. “We cannot and will not cede that power to anyone.”
Those comments follow others from the Secretary of State about an “era of suspicion” she alleges is driven by Republican “misinformation.”
Benson in January told left-wing podcaster David Pakman she’s working to build a coalition with blue state governors to create a unified front against the 47th POTUS ahead of the 2026 election, pointing to “tools at our disposal” she plans to utilize to counter the alleged Republican conspiracy.
“You can actually be successful using the courts … but also using the other pieces of authority,” she said. “We have our own police force in our states, we have state courts, we have state police force, we have other tools at our disposal to leverage against the tyrannic overreach of power, so you have to use all those tools, but also you work together.”
During an interview with MSNBC in October, Benson said she’s working with a “grassroots army” on “scenario planning” in anticipation of election mayhem, alleging the “threats are real” in 2026.
The month prior, Benson framed President Donald Trump’s efforts to bolster election security as a “power grab” with nefarious intentions, despite numerous confirmed instances of noncitizen voting under her watch in recent elections.
“They’re using the power of the federal government to intimidate and threaten states into changing our safe and secure election procedures,” Benson alleged in January. “Why? To meet the president’s personal and political agenda, and to silence the voices of millions of eligible American citizens.”
When Benson took office, Michigan had approximately 7.5 million registered voters, which was about 300,000 fewer than the voting-age population of roughly 7.8 million. Over the next several years, the state added 700,000 registrations, many automatically through driver’s license renewals, bringing the total to 8.2 million registered voters for a voting-age population of about 7.9 million by 2022, the same year Democrats regained full control of state government for the first time in four decades.
While some Republicans have repeatedly petitioned the Trump administration to oversee the 2026 midterms in Michigan, others want to require proof of citizenship and a photo ID to vote.
Benson is campaigning against efforts to require proof of citizenship in Michigan, at both the state and federal levels, alleging the requirement would “make elections harder and more expensive to administer.”
Though she promised last year to work with lawmakers to introduce legislation that would prevent illegal votes in Michigan, that hasn’t happened.
Instead, she proposed a dozen election rule changes in September that would make it easier to cheat and harder to challenge illegal votes.
