Two CBP vehicles found at Tallahassee polling site were simply there to vote

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents present at a Tallahassee polling place last week were there to cast ballots, Leon County Supervisor of Elections Mark Earley confirmed on Friday. The discovery ends speculation that the federal presence was part of a coordinated effort to monitor voting in the city.

Earley stated that his office contacted the FBI following the report of CBP vehicles parked outside the early voting site. The subsequent investigation revealed the agents intended to vote before being transferred out of the state. They would not have been in the area for Election Day.

"They were just there trying to vote before they got sent out of Florida," Earley said. "They wouldn't be here for Election Day."

The incident in Tallahassee followed a separate report in Key Largo, where masked agents conducted an operation near a polling site. The Monroe County Supervisor of Elections has completed an investigation into that event. While fact-checkers say there is no evidence of a statewide intimidation campaign, local officials note that ambiguous federal guidance has created confusion.

Earley criticized the administration's "maybe" responses regarding immigration presence at the polls. He argued that a clear public statement from the start would have prevented the current anxiety. Behind the scenes, officials have heard that there would be "absolutely no presence in any coordinated manner," Earley said.

Amy Sherman, a senior correspondent for PolitiFact, described a coordinated operation as "highly, highly unlikely." She cited the logistical hurdle of matching roughly 100,000 voting sites with the limited number of available ICE agents. She also noted that federal law restricts troops at the polls to scenarios akin to a foreign invasion, and that voter intimidation laws apply to all federal agents.

Jared Nordlund, Florida state director for UnidosUS, said the fear is genuine but may be increasing turnout among Latino voters. He pointed to economic pressures, including rising gas and food prices, as drivers pushing families to vote early. In Doral, which has the largest Venezuelan migrant enclave in the U.S., Nordlund visited small business owners who fear customers are staying home. "People are showing up to go vote, and they want to go do it early," Nordlund said.