Husted opposes Secret Service at polls
The “shocking” specter of Secret Service agents stationed at any polling place nationwide upon a presidential order is generating intense opposition from Secretary of State Jon Husted and top elections officials in 18 other states.
The prospect of federal agents watching citizens vote comes from a tiny section of a measure that would authorize money for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. It would amend existing law that bars federal troops from polling places by adding: “This section shall not prevent any officer or agent of the United States Secret Service from providing armed protective services authorized under section 3056 or pursuant to a presidential memorandum at any place where a general or special election is held.”
Husted’s reaction to that proposal was pointed: “The fact that the U.S. Senate would even consider enacting a law that would allow a president to place Secret Service agents in polling places is shocking. The frightening irony is that in creating additional safeguards to prevent Russian meddling in American elections, these senators would open the door to unprecedented federal intrusion that could lead to an American election system that looks more like Putin’s Russia.”
Husted and the other elections officials Friday asked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, to remove the offending section.
“This is an alarming proposal which raises the possibility that armed federal agents will be patrolling neighborhood precincts and vote centers,” the letter reads.
“Secretaries of state across the country agree that there is no discernible need for federal Secret Service agents to intrude, at the discretion of the president, who may also be a candidate in that election, into the thousands of citadels where democracy is enshrined.”
Husted went on to say, “We have and will continue to work with (the Department of Homeland Security), but much of what is being considered is a dangerous federal overreach. .... We work closely with federal, state, and local agencies to preserve a high standard of integrity in the voting process. This work should be able to proceed as necessary without any shortsighted interference from the federal government.”
Husted also warned of a possible federal overreach in September 2016 after Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson suggested that voting equipment be classified as “critical infrastructure,” which would bring additional federal protections such as those set up for banking systems or the power grid. The designation never came.