LEON COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) — Leon County's elections supervisor said Border Patrol agents briefly stopped at an early voting site after mistakenly believing they could vote there.
Supervisor of Elections Mark S. Earley said the vehicles parked at the Northeast Branch Library around 10:15 a.m. on Oct. 19, shortly after early voting began in Leon County.
The library is the county’s busiest early voting location, according to Earley.
The two vehicles appeared to remain there for about 10 minutes before leaving the area. Earley said his office did not receive any calls from voters about the incident.
As FBI reached out to CBP regarding the incident, Earley learned the vehicles belonged to a team of agents who are normally stationed in South Florida, but were recently reassigned to North Florida.
As they were traveling north out of the state on Hwy 319, they realized they would not be in town on Election Day and decided to stop and vote at the NE Library in Leon County, which was the last site before leaving the state.
The agents mistakenly thought they could early vote at that location and were incorrect since they are not Leon County voters. When they learned this, they left the location without voting.
Earley said he was in contact with local, state and federal partners and filed a formal complaint with the FBI.
Earley said he would work to ensure voters can participate in the 2026 general election without intimidation or implied threats. And went on to say this in a new statement on Friday:
"I accept this account of the incident, as it fits the facts as I understand them, and it is in keeping with the guarantees election officials received that federal agents would not be stationed at polling sites. I am satisfied this was an isolated instance of agents attempting to vote before they left Florida.
As noted previously, there were no complaints from voters at the time. Although I notified our local, state, and federal partners and lodged a formal complaint, this office only spoke publicly about the incident upon learning that the press was about to release a story based on information they had learned independently from this office.
I appreciate the efforts and focus of all agencies involved with researching this situation and want to reassure our voters that they are safe voting in person.
Make your voice heard. Vote in the 2026 General Election!"
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