Gov. Maura Healey said Friday that voter fraud “doesn’t happen in Massachusetts” but that she’s worried President Donald Trump would “weaponize” the federal government to influence this year’s midterm elections.
Appearing on GBH’s Boston Public Radio, Healey referenced the deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to airports, describing it as part of an effort to “normalize” the presence of federal officers and ultimately “scare people and demotivate people from going to the polls.”
Federal officials have said ICE is supporting TSA, whose officers have been working without pay during a partial government shutdown, amid long wait times.
“He’s gonna weaponize every aspect of the federal government to try to steal this election,” Healey, an Arlington Democrat, said. “That’s what’s gonna happen, and I predict we’re gonna see some violence before the election, just to give him an excuse to exercise emergency powers. So, you know, we can beat it, we can confront it, we can maintain safe and secure elections as we have here in Massachusetts and across this country, and also people need to be aware of what’s happening so that when it happens, you can call it out.”
Healey, who plans to participate in Saturday’s “No Kings” protest against Trump Administration policies, said it’s important to mobilize voters, especially young people who are disengaged from government.
Healey’s comments come a day after U.S. Attorney Leah Foley publicized a new team to investigate public benefits fraud and voter fraud in Massachusetts. Foley said Thursday that Massachusetts has “insufficient guardrails in place … to address the rampant benefit fraud across the state.”
Foley’s office since December has charged 15 people with stealing nearly $9 million in benefits from programs like SNAP and MassHealth, and last month announced a woman had been convicted for using a stolen identity to obtain federal benefits and vote in the 2024 presidential election.
On Boston Public Radio Friday, co-host Margery Eagan asked Healey about the new federal team and said she had not heard a lot about voter fraud in Massachusetts.
“Yeah, there’s a reason you haven’t heard of it, because it doesn’t happen, OK?” Healey replied.
Healey, a former attorney general, said there are program integrity units at state agencies like MassHealth and the Department of Transitional Assistance, which make referrals to state and federal prosecutors when they identify potential fraud.
“I’m always for prosecuting and stopping fraud. Come on. I mean that’s been my career,” Healey said. “But, you know, you’ve got to understand the environment and what’s going on here across the country and the ways in which the Trump administration, whether it’s directly through [the Department of Justice] or through local U.S. attorneys’ offices, are just trying to weaponize in an effort to distract and create issues and target political opponents or continue to push a certain agenda.”
The local branch of the ACLU also pushed back against the idea of voter fraud in the state.
“The Trump administration has repeatedly sought to restrict voting access, limit voter participation, and undercut public confidence in elections,” ACLU of Massachusetts legal director Jessie Rossman said in a statement. “This task force is just the latest example. Voter fraud is a myth. It simply is not a substantive concern in Massachusetts — or anywhere in the United States. Using this kind of rhetoric undermines, rather than protects, the integrity of our elections.”
