Arlington County, Virginia, sued the Trump administration on Tuesday, October 20, to stop armed federal agents from operating at and near polling places, according to Democracy Docket reporting and an announcement by Democracy Forward, which represents the county with the Public Rights Project and the Arlington County Attorney's Office.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, challenges policies of the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice that Arlington says authorize armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and FBI agents to conduct enforcement operations at polling places and other election sites during the 2026 midterms, Democracy Forward said.

Arlington is asking the court to block those policies and prohibit armed federal personnel at polling sites, early voting sites, drop boxes and curbside voting locations in Arlington, except in the narrow circumstance permitted by federal law, Democracy Docket reported.

At the center of the case is 18 U.S.C. § 592, a Civil War-era law that bars federal officials from bringing or keeping armed personnel at a place where an election is being held unless needed to "repel armed enemies of the United States." Democracy Forward said DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin confirmed in September that ICE agents could conduct enforcement at polling places, including serving warrants, and that FBI Director Kash Patel asserted the FBI could send armed agents for election-related enforcement — statements the county cites in its filing. Those are the county's allegations in the lawsuit; the administration has not been reported as conceding them in this case.

The county says the threatened presence is already alarming voters two weeks before Election Day and has forced officials to prepare guidance and emergency exercises for encounters with federal agents, Democracy Docket reported.

Sources: Democracy Docket, Democracy Forward press release (counsel for Arlington County).