California’s Secretary of State says federal government assured her ICE will not be at polls
IN A MEETING WITH THE FBI AND WITH SOME OF THE FEDERAL ASSISTANCE ASSISTANCE INDIVIDUALS, THEY HAVE ALL ASSURED US THAT ICE WILL NOT COME TO OUR POLLING PLACES. AND SO THEY’VE SAID THAT OVER AND OVER. WE DON’T HAVE ANY EVIDENCE OF ANY ELECTIONS THAT HAVE OCCURRED EARLIER THAT I SHOWED UP. SO I THINK THERE’S A DESIRE NOT TO HAVE THAT. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, YOU KNOW, OUR GOVERNOR AND OUR AG ARE PREPARED IF SOMETHING WERE TO HAPPEN. WE HAVE OUR FOLKS TRAINED, THEY HAVE INFORMATION, THEY KNOW WHO TO CALL, THEY KNOW WHAT THEY CAN AND CANNOT DO. WE’VE TRAINED ALL OF OUR POLICE OFFICERS TO UNDERSTAND THEIR RESPONSIBILITY IN MAKING SURE THAT OUR ELECTIONS ARE SAFE AND SECURE. SO WE’VE DONE OUR PART. WE HOPE IT WILL BE A BORING ELECTION, LIKE OTHER ELECTIONS, WHERE THERE’S NOTHING THAT REALLY HAPPENS THAT’S CRAZY, BUT THAT IT WILL BE EXCITING BECAUSE A LOT OF PEOPLE WILL SHOW UP AND WE’LL HAVE ALREADY VOTED. SO WE HOPE THAT WILL HAPPEN. YEAH, I MEAN, MAYBE A LOT OF PEOPLE WILL SHOW UP. BUT AT THIS POINT, MOTIVATION SO FAR HAS BEEN LOW. ACCORDING TO THESE TURNOUT NUMBERS THAT WE’RE SEEING AS OF THIS MOMENT. WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THAT? I MEAN, THE LOW MOTIVATION IN THIS ELECTION RIGHT NOW, YOU HAVE TO ASK THE FOLKS WHAT THEY SEE, YOU KNOW, WHETHER IT’S 60 PEOPLE RUNNING IS EXCITING OR NOT EXCITING, WHETHER THEY’RE GETTING A LOT OF INFORMATION FROM ALL THE OTHER CANDIDATES, YOU KNOW, YOU HEAR SO MUCH AND AND IT’S EXPENSIVE TO RUN A CAMPAIGN. AND SO WE SEE SOME FOLKS WHO BOUGHT UP ALL THE AIRWAVES AND THAT’S ALL THEY SEE. AND THAT MAY NOT EXCITE A LOT OF PEOPLE. IT MAY EXCITE OTHERS. IT’S HARD TO PREDICT UNTIL THE ELECTION IS OVER. IT’S ALWAYS INTERESTING WHEN I LISTEN TO PEOPLE TELL ME WHAT MOTIVATED THEM TO GO VOTE, OR WHY THEY VOTED A CERTAIN WAY, OR WHAT THEY THOUGHT ABOUT THE MAIL THAT THEY GOT, OR WHAT THEY THOUGHT ABOUT SEEING THINGS ON TELEVISION THAT KEPT THEM MOVING FORWARD, THAT THIS IS WHAT THEY WANTED TO DO. SO IT’S HARD TO SAY EXACTLY WHAT THE MOTIVATION IS UNTIL PEOPLE VOTE, AND THEN WE CAN ASK THEM. AND AS FAR AS THE COUNT GOES, I MEAN, WILL THAT BE FASTER THAN IN YEARS PAST? DO YOU EXPECT, YOU KNOW, ONCE AGAIN, A LOT OF IT DEPENDS UPON WHAT WE GET IN ADVANCE. YOU KNOW, IF WE’RE GETTING THE MAIL IN ADVANCE, YOU KNOW, YOU YOU’LL HAVE FASTER COUNT IF OUR FOLKS ARE HOLDING ON TO THEIR BALLOTS TO THE DAY OF THE ELECTION AND BRINGING THE BALLOTS INTO THE POLLING PLACES TO DROP IN THE BOX THEMSELVES OR WHATEVER THEY’RE DOING. IF WE GET MASSIVE TURNOUTS ON THE DAY OF THE ELECTION, WE GOT TO COUNT EVERY VOTE. AND SO IF FOLKS WANT THINGS FASTER AND AND MORE DECISIVE IN TERMS OF THEIR SIN, THEIR PARTICIPATION, THEY’RE THE ONES PARTICIPATING. THEY’RE THE ONES WHO ARE MAKING IT HAPPEN. AND WE WILL DO WHAT WE’RE SUPPOSED TO DO. WE’LL BE, YOU KNOW, AS FAST AS WE CAN. AND BUT AS ACCURATE AS WE CAN AND, AND MAKING SURE THAT EVERY VOTE COUNTS AND THAT WE DO WHAT THE LEGISLATURE HAS REQUESTED US TO DO TO BASICALLY LOOK UP THE SIGNATURES, DO THESE THINGS WE HAVE TO DO TO MAKE IT HAPPEN. WE’RE DETERMINED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE DO WHAT WE’RE SUPPOSED TO DO. WE HOPE THAT THE ELECTED OFFICIALS AND THEY WILL DO WHAT THEY’RE SUPPOSED TO DO, BUT WE HOPE THE CITIZENS WILL ALSO DO THEIR PART, THAT THEY WILL VOTE, AND THEY WILL MAKE SURE THAT THEIR BALLOT IS DELIVERED WHEREVER, WHATEVER METHOD THEY CHOOSE, EARLY ENOUGH SO THEY CAN BE INCLUDED IN THE COUNT, AND ALSO EARLY ENOUGH SO THAT WE WILL HAVE A FASTER VOTE COUNT IF POSSIBLE. SECRETARY WEBER, IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU THINK WE SHOULD KNOW BEFORE WE LET YOU GO? THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THEY’RE GOING TO DO THIS YEAR. I THINK UNLESS SOMEBODY HAD A BABY AND THEIR FAMILY OR SOMETHING OF THAT NATURE THAT EXCITES THE WORLD IN A FAMILY. BUT THIS IS PROBABLY GOING TO BE AN HISTORIC ELECTION WITH 50, 60 SOME ODD PEOPLE RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR, I THINK 15 OR MORE PEOPLE RUNNING FOR LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR. WE’VE NOT SEEN THIS INTEREST BEFORE, AND I THINK THAT IS EXCITING AS WELL AS CHALLENGING. I HOPE EVERYONE PARTICIPATES IN THIS. I BELIEVE ELECTION IS A DEFINITION OF WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE WANT TO BE. AND
California’s Secretary of State says federal government assured her ICE will not be at polls
Updated: 8:24 PM PDT May 29, 2026
As Gov. Gavin Newsom and other California leaders have warned about the possibility of federal immigration authorities at the polls for the primary election Tuesday, California Secretary of State Shirley Weber said the federal government has repeatedly assured her that it’s not happening. In an interview with KCRA 3 Friday Weber said in a recent meeting with the FBI and other federal officials, “they all assured us that ICE will not come to our polling places. They’ve said that over and over.” See the full interview with Weber in the video player aboveWhen asked about last year’s election, Weber said there was no indication there were any immigration-related incidents at the polls. “We don’t have any evidence in elections earlier that ICE showed up,” she said. “We always have observers,” she said. “A lot of time it’s just elected officials across the state who want to see what we do and how we do it.”Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this week signed a new state law that tries to restrict law enforcement at every level from having access to the polls and ballots. The governor and Democratic lawmakers pointed in part to concerns around federal authorities showing up to the polls.”The legitimate anxiety that is out there,” the governor said Wednesday, noting immigration authorities were outside of the campaign kick-off event for California’s redistricting ballot measure, Prop 50, last year. “If something were to happen, we have our folks trained, they know what they can and cannot do,” Weber said. “We hope it will be a boring election.”Will the vote count statewide be faster than in years past? “A lot of it depends upon what we get in advance,” Weber said. “If folks want things faster and more decisive in terms of their participation, they’re the ones participating and we’ll do what we can as fast as we can but as accurate as we can,” she said. “We’re determined the make sure we do what we’re supposed to do.” Weber said it’s unlikely we’ll know the result of the governor’s race on Tuesday night. “Probably not given the fact that we have to deal with vote by mail ballots coming in that night, being able to open up and cure the ballots and all those things. It’s not likely we’ll have the results that night,” she said. “We’ve got 60 candidates and that in itself is historic and when we end up with a winner, the two top getters that night will be determined by the spread,” Weber said.
As Gov. Gavin Newsom and other California leaders have warned about the possibility of federal immigration authorities at the polls for the primary election Tuesday, California Secretary of State Shirley Weber said the federal government has repeatedly assured her that it’s not happening.
In an interview with KCRA 3 Friday Weber said in a recent meeting with the FBI and other federal officials, “they all assured us that ICE will not come to our polling places. They’ve said that over and over.”
See the full interview with Weber in the video player above
When asked about last year’s election, Weber said there was no indication there were any immigration-related incidents at the polls.
“We don’t have any evidence in elections earlier that ICE showed up,” she said.
“We always have observers,” she said. “A lot of time it’s just elected officials across the state who want to see what we do and how we do it.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this week signed a new state law that tries to restrict law enforcement at every level from having access to the polls and ballots. The governor and Democratic lawmakers pointed in part to concerns around federal authorities showing up to the polls.
“The legitimate anxiety that is out there,” the governor said Wednesday, noting immigration authorities were outside of the campaign kick-off event for California’s redistricting ballot measure, Prop 50, last year.
“If something were to happen, we have our folks trained, they know what they can and cannot do,” Weber said. “We hope it will be a boring election.”
Will the vote count statewide be faster than in years past?
“A lot of it depends upon what we get in advance,” Weber said.
“If folks want things faster and more decisive in terms of their participation, they’re the ones participating and we’ll do what we can as fast as we can but as accurate as we can,” she said.
“We’re determined the make sure we do what we’re supposed to do.”
Weber said it’s unlikely we’ll know the result of the governor’s race on Tuesday night.
“Probably not given the fact that we have to deal with vote by mail ballots coming in that night, being able to open up and cure the ballots and all those things. It’s not likely we’ll have the results that night,” she said.
“We’ve got 60 candidates and that in itself is historic and when we end up with a winner, the two top getters that night will be determined by the spread,” Weber said.